To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
by Lattelady
Summary: The problem with reality was, unlike a dream, it couldn't be revised or bent...or repeated. It left Ariadne, a woman who had always prized the truth, longing for moments of fantasy.
1. Prologue: To Be Or Not To Be

**Disclaimer: **Does not belong to me. I'm not that inventive, but I wish I were.

**Rating: **PG13

**Pairing: **Dom Cobb and Ariadne

**Notes: **I've given Ariadne the last name of Bishop, since when she picked a totem she chose that particular chess piece. As she said, it was an elegant solution. It's even more elegant if it were her last name

I've chosen the last name of Elkins for Miles as a salute to Michael Caine in _Alfie_.

The children's grandmother, Miles's wife is named Sabine.

**Timeline: **Seven months after the team left LAX and the movie ended.

**Note II: **The title is taken from William Shakespeare's _Hamlet_ Act 3, Scene I – the Prince's famous soliloquy.

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_**To Sleep, Perchance to Dream**_

_**By Lattelady**_

_**Prologue: To Be Or Not To Be**_

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As the days tuned into weeks and the weeks into months, Ariadne often wondered if that trip from Sydney to Los Angeles and the eight weeks leading up to it had really happened. Was it simply a dream chasing a dream? The kind she'd occasionally had as a child. The kind where she woke-up wondering if she was dreaming the same thing over and over again; or was it a single illusion dredged up by her sleeping mind to play tricks on her waking one? If it had really happened, was she still sleeping or was she awake and destined to always wonder what was real and what wasn't? As a person who preferred to be firmly grounded in the here and now, she was finding it hard to cope.

When there were doubts, she reached in her pocket and slid her fingers along the smooth gentle slopes of her totem or held it tightly in her fist, savoring its weight and mass until she felt a wave of reassurance sweep through her. Then she knew that her bishop was real, she was real, the men were real, everything that had happened was real, and she was awake, in Paris and despite all the people around her, the City of Lights had never felt so lonely.

**TBC**


	2. Ch 1: Slings and Arrows of Outrageous

**Disclaimer: **See prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Pairing: **Dom Cobb/Ariadne Bishop

**Note: **I've never been to France and the only thing I know about architecture, beyond my personal preferences, is what I've learned from the Internet. Any errors on either subject are mine due to faulty research.

**Enjoy**

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_**Ch. 1 – Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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The ringing of his cell phone woke Dom Cobb out of a sound sleep. Disoriented he grabbed for the device and pressed it to his ear. "'Lo," his mumbled greeting carried the slow rough edges of dreams.

"Damnit all, Dom, you gave me your word that she'd be safe."

"Miles, what the hell." Even half-asleep he found it easier to be angry with his father-in-law than to listen to accusations that he'd been expecting for almost three years. He'd never promised to keep Mal safe, but he'd always assumed it was an unspoken part of their marriage vows. "It's two in the morning."

"Hmm, you don't say," the older man's clipped British accent made his words short and concise, underlying the tight rein he had on his temper. Professor Miles Elkins was a brilliant man. The nine-hour time difference between Paris and Los Angeles hadn't slipped his mind. He simply hadn't given a damn. His eyes glittered with anger as he paced and slowly circled the incredible building model that he'd found taking up most of the space in his office, when he'd returned from a meeting. Though the project and accompanying thesis report were signed, he didn't need to look at the signature to know which student from his master's level seminar in Emerging Practices in Architecture had created it.

"Can't we have this conversation at a time that's civilized for both of us?" Not once since Mal's death, had her father been anything but compassionate toward his son-in-law. Was Cobb's two years of guilt resurfacing after seven months of peace or was he dreaming? He knew he had been moments before the phone rang...or at least it felt like he had been... The thought made his hand itch to reach for his totem.

"No we can not. You owe me an explanation." The older man squinted as if he was looking into the not so distant past.

"There's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know." Dom spoke the truth. The missing piece to the puzzle to his wife's death was too much for him to talk about. Only one living person knew his deepest secret and he'd told it to her four levels down in a shared dream. Had she said something to Miles?

It had been seven months since Cobb had walked away from that plane at LAX. Seven months since the inception that had set him free so he could live wherever he liked and be with his children. Seven months since he'd accepted his part in Mal's suicide and finally let her go. Was it all coming back to haunt him?

"You can tell me why you broke your word and took my brightest and best on that last job of yours. You promised me you only needed her skills as an architect to build the levels of the dreams and teach them to the dreamers`=."

"I thought...wait...you're talking about...Ariadne," Cobb whispered her name. He knew he couldn't explain her stubborn insistence to go along despite the dangers, any more than he could explain his mystifying need to have her by his side? He didn't understand it himself.

"My God, Dom she isn't Mal. What were you thinking? The teams I built had intensive training that included debriefings by professionals after each shared dream. You and my daughter were part of that program. Even with all the built-in precautions, it still ended...so very...badly." Miles sighed, suddenly feeling old and weary. He blamed himself for his only child's suicide and the two years Dom had spent on the run. As Team Leader for America's Defense Department's Shared Dreaming Program, Operation Nighthawk, he should have anticipated the problems that had caused the endeavor to be disbanded and brought such sorrow to his family.

"What happened to her?" Cobb felt a cold wind blow against his skin and behind his closed lids he could see sheer ivory curtains billowing around an open window. "Is Ariadne all right?"

"I don't know what happened." Half a world away Professor Elkins slumped into his desk chair. "But something is definitely wrong. She won't talk to me, Dom. She has avoided me since after our initial meeting when Sabine and I returned from L.A. months ago. All she'd tell me about the job she did for you was that she was your architect and that she was needed on the plane. She never told me she went _in_ with you. After that, scheduled meetings were reduced to text messages. Her excuse was always the same: she'd gotten behind and was busy working on her final project. When blueprints and notes were handed in, they were late and come by messenger. Just before I called you, I check the security records and she has been working in the lab most nights, though no one has seen her in months. Given the number of hours she's logged, I don't know when or if she's sleeping."

"Miles, is-she-all-right?" The younger man stressed each word thought gritted teeth.

"I don't think so, but I just don't know," Elkins sighed. "When I got out of my meeting this morning she'd texted me to go to my office. I found her final project taking up what little space is allotted me. It was due three days ago." He shrugged as if this was the norm for a woman who had always considered punctuality a way of life. "It's...it's amazing, like something out of a dream but real. I need to check her math and construction layouts more carefully, but I'm sure it could be built, though the cost would be astronomical. The thing that frightens me about it is that this is completely different from the prints and updates she'd been sending me. Something is very wrong or she wouldn't have hidden it. Please help me, Dom, I don't want her to end up like-"

"Stop," Cobb cut him off before he could say the name both men were thinking. "James and Phillipa won't be awake for a few more hours. With luck we can get a flight out today. Do you think Sabine would be willing to watch them for a short time?"

"She'd be delighted, we miss our grandchildren. All three of you are welcome to stay at our home anytime. You know that."

"Miles, one other thing. If I can track down a friend of mine, a chemist, I'm going to have him email you some information that might be helpful."

"All right, whatever you think best. Let me know what flight you'll be taking and I'll meet you at de Gaulle. It won't be an easy trip with two little ones."

"I'm not leaving them behind ever again," Dom insisted.

"I didn't think you would. Have a good flight," Miles sighed and closed his cell phone. He worried about the day the younger man discovered that no matter how careful; a father could only do so much to protect his offspring. In the end he had to let them follow a path of his or her own choosing, no matter how destructive.

Elkins sat staring at Ariadne's final project, dreading what was coming. Light from his one window reflected off miniature Plexiglas walls encased in supplely bent metal. "I bet this was made out of crystal and aged platinum in your dreams," he speculated aloud. "That is if you're even capable of dreaming anymore." Worry replaced contemplation at that thought and he quickly packed her thesis report and blueprints in his briefcase and headed out the door.

Twenty minutes later he arrived home. His wife was working in her rose garden. He stood in the door watching her. To him she was as beautiful as she'd been on the day they'd met. Still tall and slim, Sabine Elkins moved with a dancer's steady grace. She was ten years younger than her husband, and up until the death of their only child almost three years earlier, had looked far younger than that.

"Miles, what are you doing home-" She shaded her eyes with her hand to get a better look at his face. What she saw frightened her. "What's happened?" she gasped.

"Dom called." He moved to her side and helped her stand. "They're fine, all three of them are fine."

"Then that's good, that he called." Sabine pulled off her gardening gloves and dropped them into the basket that carried her spade and scissors. "He's been...avoiding us...well me actually," her voice broke in pain.

"Oh, my dear, he doesn't blame you," Miles held her close, running one hand up and down her back and the other through her short ginger curls.

"He should." She fought back. "I should have seen. I should have known. It was my job. I was one of the team psychologists. And then when Mal died and he had to run, I said terrible things to him, accused him of staying away from his children deliberately."

"Hush now. That's the past, Sweetheart." He rocked her gently feeling as responsible for his daughter's death as wife did. "He and the children are coming to Paris. He needs our help."

They went into the kitchen and over tea Miles told Sabine everything he knew about what had happened between Dominic Cobb and Ariadne Bishop. "I know I promised you that I'd never have anything to do with shared dreaming, again," he concluded. "But you weren't there. You didn't see the desperate hope on Dom's face when he asked for my help."

"No, I was in America, being difficult." It had been more than that. She had left Miles because he'd believed in their son-in-law. When Mal committed suicide it had been easier for Sabine to accept that her child had been murdered than to admit her own culpability—that her daughter had been mentally unstable and she'd missed it. She'd stood by stubbornly and done nothing when the US government had classified all the information on Operation Nighthawk, making it impossible for Dom to mount a defense. The Defense Department had gotten him out of the country and she believed turned a blind eye to most of his actions around the globe, but they'd refused to allow his children to leave the States.

"My dear, we, all three of us have carried guilt for Mal's death far too long. Mistakes were made, but at the time, we didn't know...we couldn't have foreseen...We need to set her free and ourselves as well," Miles sighed. "Maybe this is how we can do it. We help Dom, help Ariadne."

"Complete the circle?" Sabine smiled sadly.

"Something like that."

**TBC**


	3. Ch 2: Whether 'tis Nobler In The Mind To

**Disclaimer: **See prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Pairing: **Dom Cobb and Ariadne Bishop

_**Enjoy!**_

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**Ch. 2 - Whether 'tis Nobler In The Mind To Suffer**

**By Lattelady**

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Seven months out and Ariadne was finally understanding the price she'd paid for her daring adventure: somewhere in that multilayered trance she'd changed. She sighed and put her chess piece back in the pocket of her jacket. The problem with reality was, unlike a dream, it couldn't be revised or bent...or repeated. It left her, a woman who had always prized the truth, longing for moments of fantasy.

Chilly winds blew off the Seine and danced through her hair, making her shiver but she didn't care. It was finally spring after the longest, wettest, dullest winter she could remember. The sun was out, though it was a pale version of Paris's unique natural light. She assumed it was the architect in her that caused her to see colors, angles, shadows and energy in any city she'd ever visited and then judge its buildings based on sunlight and shade.

The thought made her almost smile but instead she returned her attention to her sketchbook. In her drawings she had complete control over what she created, laws of physics didn't exist there. It was the one place she allowed herself such extravagances. It was almost as if...no, she shook her head, refusing to continue that thought. It would only cause her to reach for her totem again.

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From a distance a tall dark-blonde man watched the small chestnut-haired woman as she bent over her sketches, oblivious to the world around her. Dominic Cobb had found Ariadne Bishop exactly where he knew she would be, sitting on a bench by the Pont Royal Bridge.

As he moved toward her, he studied her carefully. She drew with quick energy, totally absorbed in what she was doing. It brought back memories of the last time they'd been to this bridge. She had been caught in the first heady joys of creating in a shared dream and he had been her tour guide. The cynical part of him believed he'd been Virgil to her Dante because he'd definitely taken her through all the rings of hell.

From a distance she looked the same, but up close, he could see that something was different. He couldn't put his finger on the changes but he knew they were real and that there was nothing positive about them. Miles had been right to call him.

Standing beside her bench, he smiled and called her name, "Ariadne."

His softly spoken word caused her to freeze like a hunted animal. She was sure she was hearing a voice from a dream and acknowledged it the only way she could. She reached stealthy into her picket and pulled out her weighted gold tone bishop, letting it tip onto the bench beside her. Its sound and speed were correct, making her doubt everything. Determined not to allow her feelings to show, she turned slowly, her face a careful mask as she examined the man, she believed to be a projection, standing beside her.

"Cobb?" his name tumbled unbidden from her lips.

"I'm real. You can put that thing away." He nodded toward her totem unable to look away from her.

She gave him a shrewd look and carefully knocked over her bishop a second time. Her expression and actions were so typical of the independent woman he'd known seven months earlier that he would have laughed, if fear and exhaustion hadn't clouded her deep brown eyes.

"Thank God," she gasped when she was finally convinced. A split second later she was off the bench and into his arms, her totem gripped tightly in her right hand. Ariadne knew that any other member of the team would have received the same greeting, but with Dom Cobb it was different. It meant something. It shouldn't have but _shouldn't's_ had disappeared in Ari's world about the same time he had taught her how to erase _couldn't's_.

Dom pulled her closer, leaning slightly to rest his chin on her head. For a moment it felt wrong. His muscle memory instinctively reached for a taller, rounder woman until the familiar light fragrance of citrus and spice tickled his nose. It was a scent he didn't realize he had noticed before but it righted his world. It brought with it memories of a woman who had insisted on followed him into the depths hell; and when he'd lacked the emotional strength had slain his personal succubus.

"Ariadne," he whispered and buried his nose in her hair. He breathed deeply, attempting to memorize the light perfume that was so different from Mal's.

"Yeah, it's me, Cobb." She pulled back but he held her by the elbows so he didn't lose contact with her. "You're looking good, younger. Maybe it's the lack of your perpetual frown."

"I wish I could say the same about you." Scowling, he ran his fingers along the dark smudges under her eyes. "You look like hell."

"Thanks a lot." She shrugged out of his one-handed embrace and pulled back from his touch while turning away so he couldn't study her face with those probing blue eyes. "I've been busy. You know how it is during that last term and I had gotten behind..."

He stepped closer and cupped her shoulders. "Has it been very bad for you?" he whispered and felt her tremble under his hands.

"Things could have been better," she admitted. "I've been so busy. I never thought I'd get everything completed..."

"Stop it." His grip tightened and he pulled her against him. The back of her head skimmed his shoulder and her hair trailed over his chest. "One thing I could always count on you for was the truth, no matter how bad the situation."

She sighed and leaned against him, letting him support her weight, too tired to carry on the farce no matter how much her pride demanded it. "Yeah, it's been bad. What gave me away?"

"I could understand exhaustion but I've never seen you afraid, until you looked up and saw me standing next to you." He turned her gently until he she was facing him. Her skin was still porcelain clear but much paler than he remembered. Her hair still waved smoothly around her face but it had lost much of its luster. Where before she'd stood straight, defying anyone to call her short, now there was a tired slump to her shoulders. "What has you so frightened?"

"I...ah..." She looked around her, anywhere but directly at him. "I'm having a little trouble knowing when things are real and when they aren't."

"How long since you've slept?"

"I'm able to catch small amounts here and there." Ariadne shrugged it off as if it were nothing and forced her gaze back to his.

"What about dreams? Can you still dream?" Blue eyes looked deeply into brown ones.

"Occasionally, for short periods of time. Then I feel myself falling and I wake up. Can't seem to lose the kick." She shivered hoping Dom would assume it was from the damp wind gusting off the Seine and not her memories of waking alone and screaming his name in terror, begging him to wake her up.

"Come on, you're coming with me." He reached for her sketchpad but she pulled it out of his hands and slipped it into her messenger bag. "Stop giving me a hard time," he insisted. "We need to talk somewhere where you'll be warm," Cobb growled at the games she was playing. He wasn't fooled. His little architect was cold, but it was fear that had caused her to tremble beneath his touch.

Ariadne sighed as she went with him. Dom Cobb's frown was back in place, though somehow he still appeared younger than she remembered.

**TBC**


	4. Ch 3: To Take Arms Against A Sea Of

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Pairing: **Cobb/Ariadne

**Enjoy!**

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_**Ch. 3 – To Take Arms Against A Sea Of Troubles**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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Moments later they were seated in a dark corner of a small café. Dom leaned back in his chair, his hands in his pockets, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He pretended to study the chalkboard menu above Ariadne's head, when he was really examining her. Once their order was taken and they were alone again, he broke the uneasy silence. "Things must really be bad if you've given up coffee." He never thought he'd see the day she'd order herb tea. The woman was a caffeine junky.

"Look...Cobb...I'm doing better." Her eyes sparked in challenge.

"If this is better, I hate to think of what you must have been like at your worst." He leaned across the small bistro table and spoke low and harsh, angry but refusing to raise his voice.

"Yes, I need some sleep, but it's been a tough term. We've already been over that. I don't see what you're getting so worked up about?" She shrugged refusing to give him any ground or information.

"Are you forgetting Mal and what happened?" He was astonished she'd be so careless. It was unlike her to overlook the obvious and let her life run out of control.

"I'm not Mal." The statement resonated for her on so many levels it almost brought tears to her eyes. Ariadne knew she wasn't a sad lost shade of a projection, nor was she the hauntingly lovely woman who was loved by Dominic Cobb.

"No, you're not." He agreed looking her over carefully. Even exhausted and filled with doubts she was the strongest woman he'd ever met. "There are always risks in shared dreaming. You're new to the experience and we-"

"Yeah, I got that Cobb." Her words flew out, filled with accusation, loneliness and a hint of something else that he didn't understand.

"I'm just saying that you and I went deeper than any of the others except Saito. But unlike our Japanese friend, you...we...did it a number of times. Damnit," his temper snapped as her head tilted to the right, bringing her chin out in defiance of anything he was saying. "Bottom line: you should have gotten help."

"Well, who the hell was I supposed to call...Ghostbusters?" her biting comment was thick with sarcasm. "Who was there for me to talk to about all that had happened and the things that were happening to me?"

He wanted to apologize but words seemed like too little too late. Then he was cut short when the waiter arrived with her tea and his coffee. He did the only thing he could, he covered her hand with his, hoping she still understood him like she used to.

"I didn't mean-" she began when they were alone, only to be left breathless as his fingers squeezed hers and he cut her off.

"I'm the one who owes you an apology. You wouldn't be going through any of this if it weren't for me."

"You don't understand." Ariadne slid her hand out from under his, wrapping it around her cup, trying to regain some of the warmth she lost when she pulled away from his touch. "Whatever this is," she waved her free hand helplessly, including her, him, sleepless nights, and her protracted descent into borderline _whatever_. "It came on slowly. At first I thought I was simply jetlagged or my circadian rhythm was shot to hell from too many weeks of drug induced sleep. As time passed and things didn't get better, it made sense that it was a natural low after the incredible high of creating in dreams.

"And I really was busy trying to catch up. The final project for my thesis...it...changed. What I had planned before I worked with you, seemed dull and ordinary after everything that had happened. I didn't want to settle for dull and ordinary but the physics were complicated and the building materials almost impossible. I ended up doing two projects in case I couldn't get the second one to work, I'd still have something to hand in. I was sure once I finished the term, I could get some sleep, but now that's not so easy as it once was."

"You have every right to be angry. I abandoned you...we abandoned you without bothering to look back." He sighed in frustration. He'd been so focused on getting through customs and then to his children that he hadn't given the rest of the team a thought after leaving the airport.

"Not all of you." A small sad smile curved her lips as she gazed into the pale water of her tea. She never noticed the glint of anger in Dom's eyes.

"Well, I hardly count Arthur as help." He'd seen the other man kiss her in that god-forsaken dream and it had been irritating. He'd assumed it was because it distracted him from his real priorities, which had been Fischer and getting them out as quickly as possible. He didn't want to think about why it still annoyed him, so he pushed the thought aside and went on with what was important. "Too bad he didn't stay around long enough to be sure that you really were all right."

"Arthur?" her brows rose in amusement and she would have laughed if Cobb hadn't looked so grim. "Not Arthur, he cut out of LAX, as fast as he could with that blonde flight attendant." She hadn't known the Point Man well, but he always seemed to find willing and eager woman wherever he went. "It was Saito. When I walked out of the airport his limousine was waiting for me."

"Saito is worse than Arthur." Dom's nose wrinkled in disgust. The Japanese businessman had two ex-wife and numerous girlfriends and mistresses scattered around the globe. At least with Arthur the only problem was that he had a short attention span where women were concerned.

"It wasn't like that at all." Ariadne chuckled for the first time in months at the look of doubt on Cobb's face. "You obviously have information about Mr. Saito that I'd rather not know." She leaned closer, needing to tell Dom what had happened. She was so damn tired of being alone, this time it was her hand that covered his. "That day at the airport he was...lost...shell shocked...I guess we both were. I think Saito is a man who is used to dominating his world but after he was shot in the dream, things changed, he changed. He was still in control but it became harder and harder to maintain."

"After I got in his car, he asked if I had a destination in mind, when I told him I didn't, he nodded to his driver. We went high into the hills above the city until we arrived at an old house that looked like a castle. He didn't say a word until we were driving through the gates. Then he told me a silent film starlet had built it in the early 1920's and he thought I might appreciate the architecture. " As she told the story she could see it unfolding in her mind as it had happened.

"There was a full staff as well as a security team, but they were unobtrusive and never seen unless needed." She was still mystified how the well trained maids, servers and chefs had known when to appear with exactly what was wanted. Ari had used her totem often during the time she'd spent in that elegant old home.

"I had the guest wing to myself but neither of us wanted to be alone...and sleep...no, wasn't gonna happen. We spent a lot of time sitting on various patios, walking in the gardens, watching the mountains and the city below. The sun would set and the stars come out and in no time at all the sky would brighten and it would be another day. For some reason neither of us cared for the view of the ocean." She shuddered slightly remembering the crashing waves and the beach that had led to limbo. "On the second morning, the business news began to carry stories of Robert Fischer's plans to break-up his father's company. I don't think either of us looked at a paper or turned on a computer again the entire week I was there.

"Occasionally Saito would speak about his time in limbo. He only remembered snatches of half remembered dreams about growing older. The one that stuck with him the most was of being a lonely old man filled with regrets, convinced that something was wrong with his life, but unable to prove it. I showed him my bishop and told him everything you and Arthur had taught me about totems. His grandfather had been a woodcrafter and had taught him to make Japanese puzzle boxes as a child. He began working on one before I left. I think if you ever see him again, you will discover he carries a miniature puzzle box with him at all times.

"We had one rather unusual conversation. Saito quizzed me about architecture. At first I thought it was about building in dreams but it wasn't. I don't think Dr. Elkins could have been more thorough. He asked about natural lighting, local culture and general environment and its impact on the feel and success of a structure. He had me sketching arches, bearing walls, columns, and balconies and wanted to know how they would change if different materials were used. I felt as if I were on a job interview." She frowned, knowing the only thing he would be interested in having her build would be imaginary and no matter how seductive that could be, she'd never do it again.

Cobb smiled and nodded as if he was reading her mind.

"I stayed a week, everyday getting further and further behind in my studies. The morning I left, Saito walked me to his waiting car and driver. He smiled and told me he was very glad to be a young man again, even if he did have an old soul now. We shook hands and he thanked me for all I had done for him." She shrugged realizing she'd needed the companionship of someone who had shared the experience as much as he had needed it. "He gave me his business card and told me to contact him in the spring because he had a project that might interest me. That was the last time I saw him. I hope he is doing all right."

Cobb sat quietly listening to everything Ariadne had to say, not just the words, but the shades of feelings behind them. As she'd spoken she'd forgotten to mask her emotions and her expressive features had added depth and texture to her narrative. It had allowed Dom to see every moment of loss, confusion and fear that she'd felt during that week when he'd been finding such joy in being returned to his children. A dull ache that was centered deep in his chest began to grow until he had to clear his throat to speak. "Saito is fine. He was in L.A. two weeks ago and we met for dinner. He didn't show me his totem but I did notice that he'd reach into his pocket from time to time and I wondered." Cobb ran his thumb along her fingers that were still resting against his, before pulling his hand free to slip it into his coat. Moments later he flipped a familiar looking business card onto the table between them. "I got the same interview and job offer you did."

"You're not going to..." Ari looked around. The café was filling with tourists so she lowered her voice and leaned closer, "You won't be building in dreams again, will you?"

"No," he slowly shook his head. "I've got my children back. I don't plan on doing anything that might cause me to lose them. I believe our Mr. Saito may have learned that some things carry too heavy a price tag, too. He contacted me because he wants to build a hotel on one of the Greek Islands and he needs an architect." Dom smiled and nodded toward her. "I get the feeling he thinks we make a good team."

"But I've got at least a year to go before I have my PhD." She'd never given the Japanese businessman's offer a second thought because she'd promised herself that she wasn't going to do anymore shared dreaming. Cobb was right; some things weren't worth the price.

"The way you are right now you'd be hard pressed to pass kindergarten let alone the PhD program at Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Architecture." He leaned his elbows on the table and stared her down. "Let me help you. I owe you at least that."

"I..." She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her forehead, covering her face in confusion. She wanted to deny that she needed his help but she was so tired. Would it really be that bad if she allowed herself to lean on Dom Cobb, just this once?

"Ariadne." His voice was husky and low and only inches away from her as his hands wrapped around her wrists, applying gentle pressure until he could see deep brown eyes filled with doubt. "You could probably tough this out on your own. You're strong enough to do about anything but please let me help you. Besides, don't you want to meet Phillipa and James?"

"You want me to meet your children?" It caught her completely off guard. She knew his family meant everything to him but in the weeks last fall that they'd spent so much time together, he'd been careful to compartmentalize his life. She knew that even if he'd had access to his family, she wouldn't have been allowed near them.

"Of course." He smiled at the pleasure he saw in her eyes.

"I'd like that. And you're right, I do need help," she sighed.

"Good, than you're coming with me." He stood and dug some Euros out of his pocket to pay the bill. "First we need to stop at your place so you can pack an overnight bag. I don't want you staying alone until you've gotten some sleep."

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Half an hour later they were getting out of a taxi in a gracious old neighborhood in the outskirts of Paris. Tall hedges lined the property so the house was hidden from the street.

"No," Ariadne gasped and fumbled for her bishop as they headed up the drive. She would have run for the cab and had the driver take her far away, but it was long gone. "I recognize this place." She shook her head to make the vision disappear but nothing helped. The stately home she was looking at was superimposed by an ancient and decaying dwelling. Its gardens and hedges were gone and its stone exterior slowly crumbling to dust in the eternity that was limbo.

Cobb wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from bolting or worse yet, falling. "It's all right, Ari, this is real," he reassured her. "Miles and Sabine Elkins were Mal's parents. You're not dreaming. You're safe."

"This is where she grew-up? You and she recreated this house when you were lost," her voice shook as she fought for control, clasping her bishop tighter and tighter in her hand. The fingers of her other hand dug deep into the material of his jacket.

"Yeah, I should have warned you." He slowly dragged his thumb over her knuckles that were turning white from the death grip she had on her totem. "Look at me, Ariadne."

"I..." her voice cracked. She refused to fall apart in front of this man. Taking a deep breath, she fought to relax her hold on her bishop and him. It was easier to slide the totem into her pocket, than let go of the soft material she was clutching, but she was able to do both. "I...I...ah...I'm all right, Cobb. You can let me go now." Her deep brown eyes looked into his worried blue ones, daring him to say otherwise. "I'm not going to run away screaming."

"I was more worried that you were going to end up on the ground in a heap." Dom wasn't about to set her free until he was sure. "Is it always this bad?" His furrowed brow and bleak expression were back.

"The last few weeks it's been getting worse." She forced each muscle in her body to relax one-by-one, slowly looking over Dom's shoulder to reassure herself of where and when she was. "Something happens and I'm not sure if it's real or not. The worst is when I think that all those weeks last fall, everything we did, and then all of you, were only a dream. I..." she laughed roughly and let her arms fall to her sides. "You see, if I don't know truth from fiction, then I've lost my mind." She shivered looking up into his worried face very close to hers.

"Your mind is just fine." He skimmed one hand against the side of her face. "It just needs some rest. I never should have gotten you involved, Miles was right." He glared, angry with himself because he was sure that even knowing what he did now, he would have still brought her along because she had been the one who had gotten him home. Saito may have had the power to cause the charges to be dropped against him, but without Ariadne both he and the powerful Japanese businessman would still be stuck in limbo.

"Stop it. No one has made me do anything I didn't want to do since I was fourteen years old. I chose to share dreams with you despite the mess you had brewing in your head so stop frowning and stop feeling guilty. I need your help now but back then you needed mine. It's a fair exchange."

"Daddy," a little girl called from the front door.

"Hey Daddy." A small blonde boy stuck his head around his sister, refusing to be outdone by her.

Cobb waved to his children, his face filled with joy. "You're right," he whispered to Ariadne. He had needed her. He just wasn't sure how fair it was. He'd gained far more than he could ever repay.

**TBC**


	5. Ch 4: To Die, To Sleep No More

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Note I: **No one dies despite the title.

**Note II: **Sorry for the wait, but work has been busy and I thought it was almost ready to post. When I did one last read though yesterday, I knew I needed to work on the beginning further.

**Art Credit: **All the lovely art work that I've borrowed for the Live Journal posting of this story belongs to wickedandcruel.

**Enjoy**

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_**Ch 4 – To Die, To Sleep No More**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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Confusion filled the entry hall of the Elkins' centuries old home. It was caused by a five year-old girl and a three year-old boy, who had gotten too little sleep in the last twenty-four hours and whose insecurities had come back to haunt them.

"Daddy you came home." James's face was filled with worry, as he looked up at his father.

"See, I told you he would," Phillipa quickly hissed in her brother's ear. She'd tried not to have doubts but as the hour grew later, it had been harder and harder.

"Of course I came home. Where else would I go when you two are here?" Cobb ran large hands through little heads of hair, one light brown and the other blonde, trying to give reassurance.

"Dom, they were fine," Sabine Elkins hurried down the hall. "It's just..." She didn't continue when her son-in-law nodded in understanding. He'd been forced to flee the country or go to jail when they needed him most. It was something that was likely to echo through their lives for a long time to come.

Ariadne gasped and stepped behind Cobb's shoulder when she saw the woman coming toward them. It was Mal, only older, same walk, same voice, same skin color and eyes. The tilt of her head was even the same. The children's voices faded into the background until there were only the three adults. Ari knew they'd been like this before, more than once, two women with Dominic Cobb standing in the middle, protecting one, while longing to cross the line and join the other. Her hand slid into her pocket to grip her bishop as she prepared to turn and run.

"Quiet," Dom ordered and the children's voices that had been only a background buzz, almost like waves on a distant shore, stilled. "We've got company. I expect you to behave."

Ari snapped back into the moment and stood her ground.

"James and Phillipa go on back to the playroom and I'll join you directly. I want to show Miss Bishop to her room." He reached for the travel case at his feet. "Go on, kids. I'll introduce you to our guest once she's had a chance to settle in."

"Dom," Ari felt something break-up inside of her and reached for his arm. "You should go with them. They missed you. I'll be all right."

"She's right." Sabine smiled. She'd been apprehensive about meeting the young woman she'd heard so much about from Miles and Dominic, though she hadn't been sure why. "Come with me, Ariadne, I'll show you the way."

"Just let me..." Cobb waved the overnight bag toward the stairs.

"I've got it." Ari looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and wrapped her hand around the handle of her case above his. "You see to your children."

"Thanks." He ran his fingers along her cheek as he passed off the bag. He didn't like the frozen mask she was wearing or the shadows in her eyes, but he trusted Sabine to take care of her.

She followed the older woman up the stairs to a guest room at the back of the house. It overlooked a garden that was just beginning to bloom. "This used to be my grandmother's sewing room, but I am sadly lacking in the skill so I redid it years ago. Much more functional, no?"

"It's lovely, thank you, but I don't want to disrupt your household, especially when you have family here. I really should stay at my own apartment." Ari found it unsettling to have a woman who looked like an aged Mal, guide her though the real version of a house she'd seen crumbling in limbo.

"No, no, my dear, it's no trouble at all." Sabine smiled kindly, trying to relax her wary guest. "I know what housing is like when one is a student but there are times when one needs the quiet and the peace. You'll be better off here. We have the space and plenty of nice warm water."

"That is an incentive." Ariadne's lips twitched and she almost smiled. One of the few things she missed about America was a decent-sized hot water heater. Thanks to a healthy trust fund she'd never lived in the typical crowded apartments and rooming houses that the majority of her fellow classmates had occupied. But increased rent in a better neighborhood hadn't saved her from lukewarm showers on a regular basis.

"The bath is there." Sabine pointed to the door across the hall. "Dominic uses that one as well. He has always been neat, so you needn't worry about whiskers in the sink and caps left off the toothpaste and shampoo. The children have the other guest bathroom. Phillipa understands the concept of privacy, but James is still working on it..." She shrugged her shoulders expressively.

"A...well...then I guess Cobb is the better choice." The younger woman gulped and refused to let her mind wander to that shared bathroom. She'd shared dreams with him and that was far more intimate, so there should be no problems.

"Miles told me you helped our son-in-law get home to his children. For that I'm very grateful." There was a time when Sabine wouldn't have been so appreciative, a time when she'd wished the man nothing but pain and suffering, a time when it was easier to blame him and even Miles, than to accept that as a psychologist, she should have seen through her daughter's deception and claims of normal postpartum blues and recognized the symptoms of clinical depression.

"I was just the architect..." Ariadne held up her hand to ward off a conversation that might lead to questions she couldn't and wouldn't answer.

"You were far more than that and it appears you've paid the price for it."

"I don't know what you mean..."

"Come, let's talk honestly as the women we are." Sabine put her arm around Ari's shoulders and the younger woman fought panic. She expected to feel a knife being driven into her stomach at any moment. Rationally she knew that Sabine was Mal's mother and that was the reason for the uncanny resemblance, but emotionally, she was lost in a maze.

"I...really..." The girl's muscles strained, wanting to pull away but knowing how foolish she would appear.

"Ariadne, you're safe," soft French-accented English rang in her ears. "I know about dream sharing and that my daughter lost her will to live when she was in one of those dreams. I know about it because I was one of the psychologists for the two teams Miles formed. It was where Mal and Dominic met."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ari stepped back, trying to block the memory of a soft voice that broke into her concentration when she needed it most. _'Do you know what it is to be a lover? Half of a whole?' _She didn't want to know how they'd met, how they'd loved and created a life together. But most of all she didn't want to admit why those questions bothered her so badly.

"I'm telling you because I noticed the apprehension in your eyes when you looked up and saw me for the first time and-"

"No, you're wrong, I'm just tired." Ariadne took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Possibly." She tipped her head, not wanting to argue when there was so much of importance to be said. "I'm also telling you because I owe you a great deal." Sabine had to stop for a moment, unsure if she could continue. "My daughter," she whispered. "My daughter killed herself and nothing will change that. Miles, my grandchildren and Dominic are all that I have left. The children's happiness means more to me than anything. Those two years their father was gone were very hard on them. You have given them a gift that is beyond value."

"It wasn't just me. He would, and did, move heaven and earth to get back to them." Ari had to blink quickly to keep tears from forming in her eyes.

"But you were part of it. Even if I hadn't have been told, I'd have known just by looking at you. Your eyes, the lack of sleep, the way you always reach for what I suspect is a totem in your pocket. You have all the signs of a person who has had a traumatic shared dream, one that he or she can't or won't let go of. Dominic looked that way after Mal died. He still looked that way when he returned to the United States. When he was home, where he'd wanted to be for two years, the exhausted fear faded from his face quickly. All it took was some time spent with James and Phillipa."

"Mme. Elkins-"

"Please, call me Sabine."

"Sabine," the name rolled off Ariadne's tongue. It almost fit the woman standing beside her, if Ari could just stop perceiving her as a vision of Mal, the Mal who would have existed in limbo to grow older with Dom. "I-"

"Don't say anymore." Cobb's mother-in-law held up her hand as if to ward off evil. "You and Dominic dream shared when he was at his most vulnerable. I know you met Mal somewhere in those dreams. You wouldn't look at me with doubt and reach for your totem, if you hadn't." Sabine's eyes filled with tears, but she didn't let them fall. "I often forget how much my daughter looked like the woman I was thirty years ago."

'_You still look like her,'_ the errant thought showed in Ari's eyes until she blinked it quickly away. "I was going to thank you for opening your home to me. I wouldn't say anything..."

"Let me finish. Then once it's said, it's said and will never be mentioned again. Whatever projection you may or may not have met, wasn't my daughter. She may have looked like her and sounded like her, but... no...no...my child wanted only the best for Dominic, despite what happened in the end..." It was something Sabine couldn't reconcile. In order to find to peace and sanity, she'd had to stop trying and simply accepted that somewhere, in some dream, her Mal had been lost. The woman who'd come back to reality had changed and kept on changing, drifting away from her family until there was nothing left but sorrow.

"Shared dreams can be...difficult." Ariadne shivered at memories she couldn't reveal and wouldn't, even if she could.

"You didn't like the dreaming, did you?" The Frenchwoman smiled in relief.

"It's pure creation. Like imagination coming to life. That part of it was almost mesmerizing." Ariadne spoke using her hands as if she were building cities out of thin air. "I liked that part. But it's not worth being the way I am now, never quite sure when I am awake and when I'm not. Praying for sleep but fearing it too."

"You sound to me like a very wise young woman." Sabine smiled sadly. She wished her daughter had been half as wise. Mal had fallen in love with shared dreaming from the beginning. Dom and shared dreaming had become her life or was it shared dreaming and Dom? The older woman had never been quite sure. She did know the two went hand-in-hand as far as her child had been concerned.

"I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve." Ariadne nibbled on her lip. "I'm beginning to doubt things I've always believed."

"That's because you're tired, my dear." Then in the deft way that was typical of all well-bred Frenchwomen she changed the subject to a much more pleasant one. "We've got at least half an hour until our meal is ready. Take advantage of that hot water I was telling you about and change into comfortable clothes. Supper is an informal affair when the children are here."

* * *

She took Sabine's advice. She showered, washed her hair and changed into slim fitting jeans, a jewel-red tank, layered under a loose fitting ivory shirt and soft leather flats. It took her a moment, but she finally found the multi-colored silk scarf that had been her mother's, at the bottom of her small overnight bag. After folding it around her neck, she giving it a practiced twist, and tucked it into her shirt.

"Much better," she muttered to her reflection in the mirror above the small dresser in her room. Ari had lived in France for most of the last nine years. She knew her hostess had been sincere about dressing comfortably, but that hadn't mean she should look anything less than finished.

She didn't know if it was her belief in Dominic Cobb or simply the effect of letting hot water beat down on her head and shoulders for as long as she liked, but for the first time in months she was hungry.

As Ari walked down the wide staircase, her fingers trailing along the satin finish of the dark wooden banister, she heard children's voices and laughter. She stood for a moment, her hand resting lightly on the tall, fat, bottom newel post and listened until she was sure where the noise was coming from. Then she followed the sounds to a bright room, its pocket doors pushed back into the walls on either side, opening the space to the hall. There were shelves filled with toys and books, child sized chairs and a play table, were side-by-side with comfortable adult furniture.

The sight that took Ariadne's breath away was the tall, broad shouldered man in a green shirt and dark pants. Cobb's size and energy made the room appear small as he stood in the center, playing with his children. He had both hands wrapped around his little girl's waist as he held her high above his head. A young blonde boy sat at his feet laughing, amid a scatter of brightly colored wooden building blocks.

"Do it again, Daddy," Phillipa giggled, her small hands reaching for his face.

"Do what, Peanut?" It was an old game and Dom didn't think he'd ever tire of it.

"Raspberries," the pint-sized girl laughed.

"Oh, you mean this?" He flexed his arms bringing his daughter's face an inch above his and then he rubbed his mouth against her neck, giving her noisy kisses. She erupted in giggles her small body jumping and wiggling, but he held her carefully, gently, securely.

"Your whiskers tickle, daddy." Phillipa's words were punctuated by more laughter.

"I can always shave 'em."

"No," the little girl grew serious and kissed his chin. "They mean daddy."

"Okay, kiddo, then I guess they're gonna stay."

"You could do the ones on the rest of your face." She inspected him carefully, holding both of his stubble-covered cheeks in her hands. "Just not these." She directed, as she patted his chin and upper lip.

"You've got yourself a deal," his voice was husky with emotion as he hugged her tightly.

"My turn, my turn," James begged from below.

"Okay, Big Guy, up you go." He put Phillipa down and picked up his son.

Ariadne watched as Cobb swung James in the air, giving him noisy kisses and making the child laugh. She was transfixed, hardly recognizing the person she'd spent so much time with last fall. This wasn't the hard driven man who had been willing to risk anything, including the lives and/or sanity of the entire team, to achieve his goal. Nor was he the lost man, filled with grief and guilt, who had kept seeking out a ghost in a quest for redemption.

It struck Ari that the reason Dom had appeared younger when she'd first seen him earlier that day was because he'd looked unnaturally old last fall. This person, this father, playing with his children was the real Dominic Cobb. She'd only known the phantom he'd been forced to become.

Sabine Elkins watched Ariadne from a distance. It was the first time she'd seen open emotions play freely across the younger woman's face. The girl was good at hiding what she felt, too good for one so young. But that wasn't what was bothering the Frenchwoman, it was the hint of...almost...longing...affection that she saw openly displayed. That was something she needed to address, but not simply the girl's feelings, but Dom's as well. If it was what she suspected, it would explain why he had dropped everything and loaded his family on a transatlantic flight at a moments notice.

"There, you see, my dear," Sabine came up and put her arm around Ari's shoulders. "This is what they had lost, but now have back again. From what my son-in-law tells me, you were an essential part of that endeavor." There was much more she wanted to say and many questions she wanted to ask but first she needed to figure out how she felt about it.

"Ariadne," Cobb looked up into the mirror over the fireplace and saw the reflection of her standing with his mother-in-law at the entrance to the hall. "This one here," he held James higher up in the air and made the boy laugh harder than before, "Is James and the giggle-puss on the ground is Phillipa. Kids, this is my friend Miss Bishop." He was pleased to see that the strained, worried expression that Ari had worn since getting out of the taxi was almost gone.

"Hi. I've heard a lot about you two." She smiled at the children and offered her hand to Phillipa. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

The little girl moved closer to shake hands as she'd been taught. "You smell real good." She sniffed from inches away.

"It's my shampoo and conditioner, see." Ariadne knelt beside her and held out a strand of dark wavy hair.

"Ohhh, can I borrow some when I wash my hair in the morning?"

"You sure can."

"Actually the reason she smells good," Dom cut in, "is because she's had a chance to shower, no one was hogging the bathroom."

Ariadne rolled her eyes and ignored both his compliment and his wisecrack.

"Sabine, is there time for me to freshen up and change before dinner?" he asked. "As my daughter pointed out, I haven't shaved since L.A."

"Take your time. Miles has been on the phone for the last hour and each time I check on him, he's deep in conversation." She knew she didn't have to tell Dominic what was being discussed. Her husband's marathon phone session had followed shortly on the heels of an email from a chemist named Yusuf. She was equally sure that the young American girl standing beside her was the reason for those calls.

"Don't forget daddy, only the whiskers on your cheeks," Phillipa insisted.

"You got it, Peanut." Cobb kissed his children and patted Sabine's shoulder as he headed for the stairs.

**TBC**


	6. Ch 5: For In That Sleep

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Art Credit: **All the lovely art work that I've borrowed for the Live Journal posting of this story belongs to wickedandcruel.

**Quote Credit: **There is a tiny quote from the movie _Labyrinth _in this chapter. I think Jim Henson's Co, still owns that. I know I sure don't.

**Enjoy**

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_**Ch 5 – For In That Sleep...**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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Dom put the children to bed after dinner and joined Ariadne and Miles in the older man's study. He'd barely gotten the doors closed, when he was pulled into an argument that was heating up to boil over.

"You try and talk some sense into her." His father-in-law scowled, throwing his arms up in disgust.

"This isn't your classroom, Professor. You can't tell me what to do," Ariadne retorted stubbornly. "And as for him..." she sputtered, waving her hand in Cobb's general direction. "I already know what he thinks."

"Okay, you two, what the hell is going on?" Dom glared at them both. When he'd left to read a bedtime story to James and Phillipa, Ariadne was jumpy, but contained and Miles was his usual unflappable self. Thirty minutes later they'd been reduced to a snarling match.

"I've been trying to tell him I can't stay here tonight but he won't listen." Ari paced the spacious high-ceilinged room avoiding large male-sized furniture as she tried to work off nervous energy.

"Try telling it to me." Cobb's eyes turned ice blue and he leaned his weight against the doors with his hands in his pockets, effectively blocking her exit.

"I can't stay if you two expect me to try and sleep." The thought of the damages she could inflict on this already wounded household was more than she could bear. In theory it had been a good idea, one she believed she could live with, but not after meeting his children and seeing the sorrow etched on Miles and Sabine's faces in private, unguarded moments.

"You insisted on doing things your way once before. This time we're doing them mine," his words were slow and dark like smoked caramel sliding against her skin.

"If you and Miles are successful and I am able to fall asleep, do you really want me to wake everyone, screaming in terror?" As she spoke, desperation propelled her across the room until she was inches away from him.

"It's not going to happen that way," Dom insisted stubbornly. He was not going to let her get further and further away until she was lost completely. He'd been down that road before.

"I think I know a little bit more about what's been going on in my life than you do. You've been home, healing all your broken...places...I've been...I've been here just trying to cope..." She saw him reel from the verbal blow. Her eyes slammed shut and a tremor shook her entire body. She was being unfair and she knew it. The thought effectively cooled her temper but not her determination. "Sorry, that was hitting below the belt. You were where you should have been. Where you were needed the most. But that doesn't change anything about my situation."

As much as he wanted to deny her accusation, he knew that he couldn't. He'd left his children with not so much as a good-bye, months after their mother's death. He had needed to get back to them, for their sakes as much as his. "Ariadne, please, I know I'm asking a lot after leaving you to fend for yourself for so long but trust me-us," he quickly corrected himself. "Trust us enough to let us help you, now." He tipped her face up toward his, hoping she would let go of that damn guarded mask she always hid behind and when she did he found the results devastating.

"I...I'm frightened," she forced the words out and felt tears fill her eyes at the admission. God she hated to appear weak, but she was so tired. It took all her effort to stay standing.

"I know you are," he whispered and wrapped his arms around her, forgetting there was anyone else in the room but the two of them. He breathed deeply of the scent of citrus and spice and could picture the neat bottles with the ivory and black labels that he'd found in his shower. If he squinted he could almost see the names...Lime, Basil and something else he couldn't remember. But for the rest of his life he knew that fragrance would represent reality, Ariadne, and a place where his soul was sheltered.

Elkins sat back and watched the two best students of architect he'd ever had. Part of him wondered what they were building at that very moment and if they even knew they were doing it. Had the foundation been laid months ago?

He tried to look at them dispassionately, not as the father of Dom's dead wife. It wasn't as hard as Miles had expected it to be. He knew there was twelve years difference in their ages. It wasn't all that much, especially considering Dom Cobb had participated in dream sharing on an almost daily basis for most of his adult life. In those dreams he was capable of lying, cheating, stealing and even killing. In real life he was a far kinder, gentler person. In some ways younger than most men his age or had been until Mal's suicide. Her death and ultimate betrayal had left him trapped in a world that was falling down around him. For two years it had cost him everything and everyone who was dear to him. Now that he was home, Dom appeared to be almost his old self, but was he really, could any man be?

Then there was Ariadne, a talented, bright, and beautiful enigma. As her faculty advisor, Miles had access to her records but he knew little about her beyond the facts that she was an American; who had been orphaned at fourteen, a handful of days after being sent off to boarding school in Lyon; and despite her love of creating, she worshiped truth like others did God. Her beliefs kept her grounded and strong when classmates and friends went off halfcocked but made her old beyond her years. The deep loss she'd suffered in her teens kept her a woman apart. One who wasn't given to sharing confidences, but it would appear that sometime in those two months, she and Dom had worked together; she'd allowed him in. They'd allowed each other in.

"I'm okay, Cobb, I really am." She stepped back and smiled sheepishly at Elkins sitting, watching them from the other side of the room.

"You're not yet, but you will be." The Englishman nodded with assurance. "Now, why don't both of you sit down and let's get started." He indicated the large leather couch opposite his chair. "Start from the beginning, Ariadne. I want to hear everything that happened."

It took her a while to tell the story since she was careful to edit out anything that had to do with Mal or the exact nature of the job she'd been recruited for. Cobb added bits and pieces as she went along. He too was wary of mentioning his wife's name and careful to protect his father-in-law from knowledge that could harm the older man legally should their inception ever be discovered.

"Okay," Miles frowned. He wasn't fooled. He was being left in the dark on some matters. "Dominic I'm going to have to trust your experience in shared dreams and believe that nothing was omitted from your stories that would impact Ariadne's current problem."

"You have my word." Cobb leaned forward, unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling them above his wrists, before resting his elbows on spread thighs and his chin on steepled fingers. The action pulled his navy shirt taut across his shoulders. Ari blinked at the familiarity of his movement. How many times had she seen him sit like that, working out a complex problem or simply enjoying the company of the team?

"All right then," Miles frowned and picked up a folder that had the information on the compounds Yusuf had concocted. "Your chemist was helpful and brilliant, if a bit careless."

"Was there something in the dream cocktail that is causing my problems?" She didn't understand how that was possible, since everyone had used it and she was the only member of the team hanging onto her sanity by her fingernails. If that was what he thought, she would believe him. Cobb had told her that Miles Elkins understood more about shared dream theory than anyone alive. She wished she'd known that fact last fall. Talking to him when she returned to Paris, instead of avoiding him, might have saved her months of worry, sleepless nights, and soul grinding fear.

"Dream sharing is a very new science and there is a lot to be learned. Since it takes place in the mind the rules aren't the same for everyone. I believe that for you, in this instance, there are a number of factors contributing to your issues. You were inexperienced in this kind of dreaming and did it on an almost daily basis for approximately eight weeks with no breaks or time to recoup. The drugs Yusuf used are extremely potent. They had to be to allow you to go as deep as you did, for as long as you did. Which was what, three or four levels down on numerous occasion over the relatively short time span of two months." Elkins was beginning to wonder if given the depth and frequency of Ari's dream sequences something more might have happened.

"I'm not sure...I..." Ariadne fumbled uncertain exactly how deep she'd been when she'd invaded Dom's private dream. Just thinking about that cramped elevator to hell made her head swim.

"Let's just say she went too deep, too quickly and leave it at that." The younger man positioned his body between hers and Miles's. It struck him that this wasn't the first time he'd taken up a protective posture for the slim woman who'd been at his side through so much of the fall. In the past, he'd usually shielded her from his projection of Mal.

"All right," the older man nodded. He'd seen Ari reach out but not touch Dom's shoulder. His son-in-law responded by taking her hand in his and guiding it securely behind him in an instinctive gesture to deflect questions away from her. It added weight to Elkins's earlier theory about the two of them. If he was correct it would make his plan go smoother.

"So, what do I do?" Ari wanted to slid into the corner of the couch, far away from the answer she was sure she wasn't going to like but Cobb had her pinned in place and wasn't letting go. "Do I just try and sleep and you guys watch me? Cause if that's the plan I'd much rather do it in private in my own apartment. My neighbors have gotten used to my nightmares."

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple," Miles spoke gently as he picked up a familiar metal case that had been on the far side of his chair. "We're going to have to use shared dreaming to take you back to the level where your sleep cycle was impaired and kick start it."

"No," she gasped and wrenched free of the large hand that was holding hers. "No. There has to be another way."

"There isn't any other way we can think of." Cobb turned to her, his face filled with concern.

"You knew. You've known all day and brought me here anyway," she accused, kneeling beside him to give herself added height and in her mind strength.

"Ariadne," Miles interceded. "We're not going to force you, but I don't know of anything else that will help. It isn't simply the fact that damage was done to your sleep cycle last fall. You exacerbated it when you returned to Paris. You didn't sleep-"

"I _couldn't_ sleep." Her delicate hands moved quickly as she spoke. "There was never any choice." Ari's eyes flared as she tried not to remember the pain of those first interminable nights alone.

"All right then, you couldn't sleep," the Professor agreed gently. "But it wasn't helped when you crowded your schedule, adding more and more pressure to your already overstressed system. We need to go back to the beginning, where the damage originated, otherwise it will be no better than putting tape on a festering wound. It is essential that you not only sleep but are able to dream again."

"Damn." She rubbed her eyes like a sleepy child, wishing their argument didn't make so much sense. A quote from a childhood movie ran through her head. '_The way forward is sometimes the way back.'_

"Ariadne, it won't be like before-" Dom tried to reassure her but he knew that there were no real assurances he could give. They were going to travel the highways of their minds and one thing he'd learned, was to expect the unexpected.

"Stop it." She held up her hands in an attempt to feel in control of something. "You're correct, of course." She turned toward Miles and tried to smile. "I'll go in with you, Professor."

"Not me, Dominic," he spoke as soothingly as possible. "You've dreamed with him before. It's the easiest, safest way." Elkins strongly believed that his son-in-law needed this almost as much Ariadne. He knew the man was sleeping, but doubted he had more than the occasional whisper of a dream. That didn't bode well for continued long-term improvement.

"Dom, I can't ask you to do that." She shook her head, surprised that the older man would even suggest it. "Your children, they're real, not phantom projections used to fool you. I can't let you take that risk."

"You're not asking or letting, I'm volunteering. I had a good idea what was going to be needed when I boarded that plane yesterday." He turned toward her on the couch holding out his hand. The decision was hers. "But if you don't trust me, then Miles is willing to be the architect instead."

"Just...just give me a minute to think." It was too much for her tired mind to absorb all at once, so she broke it into chunks that made sense. She couldn't imagine sharing a dream where Dom Cobb wasn't one of the participants. The offer of sleep was seductive to her exhausted psyche. But if they got lost... "We've done it before," she added almost as if talking to herself.

"That's right." He smiled, giving her encouragement.

"And we got out. Both of us got out." She shivered at the memory of leaping off that last level to initiate the kick that would take her back up to the snowy hospital. All the time she'd been falling she'd had the impression of old, forgotten thoughts buffeting against her back from far below.

"We did." Dom agreed, letting her work her way to the answer. This was one area where he wouldn't push or manipulate the outcome. He was done with inception. It had to be her decision and hers alone.

"Okay," the word came out on breath and she took his hand for one quick moment. "We'll do it."

"All right then, get comfortable, lets get started." Miles set the case on the couch beside them. "I'm using a compound far less potent that your friend Yusuf's. There is no sedative added so you won't be able to go further than one layer. We'll try five minutes, which is one hour dream time and see what happens." As he talked he inserted an IV in first Dom's arm and than in Ariadne's.

"Wait, what are we supposed to do in this dream? What's the plan?" She gripped Elkins's hand preventing him from administering the compound that would put them to sleep.

"That's very simple, my dear, I expect you to find someplace comfortable and sleep, both of you," he added for Dom's benefit. "You both need to sleep and hopefully dream. The long term plan is that eventually, after we've gone deep enough and figured this all out, you'll be able to sleep and dream on your own." He pushed the plunger rendering first Cobb and than Ari unconscious.

"That's the plan for both of you," he muttered as the two young people slumped against one another.

**TBC**


	7. Ch 6: What Dreams May Come

**Disclaimer:** See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Pairing: **Ariadne Bishop and Dominic Cobb

**Note: SPOILER ALERT **– though anyone who's gotten this far in my story has probably seen the movie and knows what I am warning against.

**Comment: **Everyone is free to believe what they wish about _Inception_. I've incorporated some of my ideas and beliefs into this chapter hopefully you will enjoy them. They don't any in way negate the disclaimer.

**Wine: **The wine Dom is talking about is a _Sancerre_. It's only grown and bottled in the Loire Valley of France.

**Enjoy!**

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_**Ch 6 - ...What Dreams May Come**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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Miles Elkins whispered, "Sleep well," as Ariadne Bishop and Dominic Cobb took their first deep breaths in a shared dream, in over seven months. They were slouched together on the large leather couch in his study and he wished them a pleasant journey with as few bumps alone the way as possible.

* * *

Ariadne looked around to get her bearings. Stars were tiny pinpricks in the slowly darkening sky. She and Cobb were seated on the old wooden porch swing of a cottage. The small building was situated on a slight rise above gently sloping hills that were covered by row after row of grapevines marching in neat columns until they were lost from site as dusk gave way to night. In the distance men were coming in from the fields. The quiet was broken by their laughter and one of them singing an old French sea shanty.

"Where are we, Dom? It's...lovely," she sighed in contentment.

"A vineyard in the Loire Valley."

"Is this a memory?" She refused to give into worry that a certain very dangerous, feminine projection would appear out of nowhere. It was too peaceful here and the last time they'd met, Ari had finally figured out that the only power Mal Cobb had over her was what she'd allowed the woman.

"No, it's a dream. I've seen enough vineyards in Italy, France, California, and even Australia to be able to borrow bits and pieces to make this one." He was pleased with his effort. The mix of all the different countries had blended well. "You can't see it at night, but at the top of that hill." He pointed far to the north. "There is a sign with the label from one of my favorite wines. This valley, the real one, is the only place in the world that particular variety is produced. I placed it there as a marker. I've never been here, don't know if that is what it really looks like but I wanted it for a reference point."

"Tell me about the cottage?" She nodded at his safety precaution and caressed the rounded, colored stones that made up the exterior walls. Their texture was smooth and well worn, as if they'd been there for a long time. There were three tall windows on either side of a heavy wooden door that had been painted dark blue. Instead of a knocker there was a small ship's bell hanging on the doorframe. Along the sides of the building, Ari could make out more windows, but not much else.

"Ahhh well, it was a moment of inspiration. In a dream I used to be able to build anything." He smiled remembering her joy at learning the art. "A lot has happened in the last two days. I didn't prepare for this as well as I would have liked. I'm glad I haven't lost my touch."

"Pure creation." Ariadne explained, as she had to Arthur so many months ago.

"Yes, I think I've heard that phrase used before," his voice flowed softly on the breeze, ticking her skin, like the gentle wind did her hair. "But I believe our orders from Miles were to sleep, not examine the architecture." He stood and held out his left hand to her.

"Wait." She froze. Her gaze traveled quickly from his left hand, up his arm, to his face, and back down again. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see it was full night and she was trapped, surrounded by nothing but darkness. As hard as she tried, she couldn't see anything further than three feet down the path at bottom of the porch steps.

"Ariadne, what's wrong?" Dom asked in concern.

"Stay where you are." She got up and slid around him not wanting to be caught between his bulk and the swing. Where moments earlier her skin had been tingling with pleasure now it was all she could do to hide quivers of fear that danced along her nerve endings. "We can't be dreaming, because you're not wearing your wedding ring." She pointed to the third finger on his hand. "It's always there in a dream."

Dom looked down in surprise. "I didn't know. I never realized... But we are dreaming." He pulled out his totem, a small hourglass in a heavy metal frame. He flipped it and watched as the sands ran slowly to the lower level. "See, the grains move too slowly for us to be awake."

"No. That is not your totem!" She cried out in panic, digging in her pocket for her hers. "Yours is a weighted top and you spin it. Who are you really?" She glared at him trying to see beneath the façade of Dom Cobb to the real person who lay beneath.

"Ari, it's me." He moved closer to her needing to convince her. "Remember my dream you joined. Remember the elevator and all the levels I told you were memories I wanted to forget. No one else knows that information but you and me. No one else knows what I did to my wife, no one," his voice cracked.

"I...wait." She crossed the porch in two quick strides to place her bishop on the wide flat surface of the railing. She knocked her chess piece over and was more confused than ever. The speed of it's decent and the sound it made hitting wood were what they should be, if they were dreaming...but Cobb's ring was missing, so was the top she associated with him but this person knew things that only he could know. "Where are we really? Still asleep on that never-ending flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, lost on some level deeper than limbo or is this all a dream of my own making and you're a...projection? You and Miles, and Sabine, and the children, none of you are real. Or...or...am I having a psychotic episode?" she whispered.

"Stop, it Ariadne. You're not losing it. You're simply exhausted. Think and you'll remember where we are. You'll remember that in reality we're asleep in Miles's study. Everything that happened today, all the people you met, are real. The inception is over and it's seven months later. The only things that are a dream are this valley and the cottage behind us."

"Than explain the lack of your ring and that crazy hourglass instead of your real totem." She swung around, backing away from him. "You can't explain it, can you, because this is an out of control dream and you don't know the beginning anymore than I do."

"Of course it's a dream, one that feels almost real, but isn't. That's how you know you're dreaming. I'm in this dream with you to help you get-"

"No! Don't you dare play Mr. Charles with me. I'm not one of your marks, it won't work." She didn't know if she was more insulted that he would try that gambit on her or afraid of why he was doing it. It really didn't matter, every instinct was shouting at her to get away. She moved slightly to the left, her foot searching behind her for the steps to the path.

"That's not what I'm doing." He held his miniature hourglass between his thumb and first finger, inches away from her face. "This is mine and went with me everywhere, except for the two years after Mal's suicide. After she was gone, I thought her totem would keep her close to me. And, oh God, was I right. She haunted me every time I closed my eyes." His words were rough and ragged, coming from places he didn't know existed. "Even when I realized that the smart thing to do would be to throw it in the sea, I couldn't. It was my penance and my trap, holding me in the past when all I really wanted was to move forward. I was stuck, carrying it, despite the doubts, and warnings, despite knowing how dangerous it was to have a totem that had meant so much to someone who had once been so dear to me." Thoughts and feelings gushed out of him. Things he knew instinctively were true, but had kept buried in his subconscious, filled the air between them.

Ariadne wanted to believe him. "Wait, wait...let me think this through." She rubbed her temples with both hands. What he said made sense, but that was the problem, it made too much sense in a twisted dream-like way. Fear gripped her throat and she gave in to panic.

She slid further to her left in a last attempt to get away, too unsure of what was happening to stay and listen to any more. Then she was falling off the porch but instead of landing on the soft dirt path, she kept on falling like Alice down the rabbit hole. But unlike Alice, she couldn't breathe.

* * *

In Miles's study it was one minute into the dreaming session and Ari began to twitch. Seconds later she screamed, "Dom! Wake me up. Wake me up. Wake me up, Dom!"

"Easy," Elkins tried to reassure her as he clamped off her IV. He held her while she gasped for air, her hands pulling at her neck "You're awake. Open your eyes you're safe."

"Is he all right? Is Cobb okay?" Hardly looking at the sleeping man who she was still leaning against, she concentrated on trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, he's fine." Miles closed off his IV and let the younger man wakened.

Dom came up fast. Remnants of the shared dream clinging to his mind and senses. "Ariadne, where are you...Ariadne...?" his voice was hoarse as if he'd been calling her name for a long time.

"Help me!" Her fingers fumbled with the scarf around her neck but trembled too badly to untie it.

"Just rip off the damn thing if you have to," Dom instructed as his hands pushed hers aside and went to work freeing her.

"No, don't. It was my mother's." She took short gasping breaths as she felt his knuckles brushing against her throat.

"There." He cupped her cheeks reassuringly. "It's off. You're free. Can you breathe?"

"Yeah, thanks." She leaned her forehead against his shoulder, clutching her scarf in both hands. "That was...terrible!"

"That's an understatement." He hugged her to him with one arm while his free hand reached for his totem and turned it upside down. She was soft and warm against his side but Cobb didn't relax until he saw the sand grains running quickly through the hourglass.

"I'm okay, really, I'm okay." Ari pulled out of his embrace, but stayed near enough so that their shoulders brushed as she sat back on the sofa.

"You've got one hell of a built in kick going on in there." He tipped her chin upward needing to see her eyes. He was beginning to be able to read her. Even when she buried her emotions behind a mask, the deep brown pools that stared back at him, told him what she was really feeling. This time they were so dark they were almost black, filled with confusion, loss, and doubts.

"I hadn't expected things to go smoothly the first time in." The professor watched the two younger people carefully, examining each gesture and tone of voice. He knew that they had to start on the first level and work downward, but if Ari couldn't even get that far, he wasn't sure what to do. "But I hadn't anticipated anything like that. Tell me more about this built in kick, Ariadne?"

"I fall, or it feels like I'm falling," she explained. "It's been happening for the last seven month. When I sleep, usually I don't remember dreaming but I always have that dizzying sensation of falling and it wakes me up."

"And that's what happened?" Miles watched them intently. Now was not the time for them to leave out any details, no matter who they implicated or what sad memories they might bring up.

"It was worse than that." Cobb answered and she shook her head in agreement. "She fell down two steps. The ground opened up and swallowed her. I could hear her screaming for me to wake her up, but I couldn't get to her. I was left frozen in a dream, calling her name, as she fell further and further out of my reach."

"Hmmm, no wonder you're not getting any rest." Elkins rubbed his chin and began to pace as his mind churned through every scrap of information he knew about shared dreaming. There had to be a way to solve this, and he was going to find it.

Ariadne turned, almost bumping her head on Cobb's chin. "Back in the café," she whispered, not wanting the Professor to overhear. "When you convinced me that I needed your help, you told me you thought I could tough this out on my own. Was that the truth?"

"At the time, yeah." He brushed away tiny strands of her hair that had gotten caught in his goatee. "It wouldn't have been easy and I doubt it would have been pretty, but yes I thought you could eventually do it."

"But you don't think that anymore?" She felt her world sinking around her. For nine years she'd been on her own, at boarding school and then college. There had been a trustee to be sure her finances were protected and that whatever vacation spot she spent holidays was well staffed and chaperoned. It was hard to discover, that after all that time, she needed someone, especially this strange, haunted, blue-eyed man.

"No, I'm sorry, but I don't." He cupped her cheek to give support, knowing it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

"When we were falling asleep, I thought I heard Miles say something...like...after we'd gone deep enough and figured it all out..." She shook her head trying to jiggle loose more of the memory. Those moments, just before the drug hit her system, were hazy. "He wasn't just talking about a one time dreaming session was he?"

"I wasn't listening. I was doing my job as the architect, building in my head so we'd have a place to go." His hand slid from her cheek, down her neck to her shoulder, giving him time to think how to tell her what she needed to know. "But if you're asking me if I believe it'll take a number of sessions, going deeper each time, than yes, after what happened in there, I believe it will."

"What if the problem _is_ on the first level and all we need to do is push past it and everything will be back the way it should be." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

"You don't believe that, Ari." Dom threw his left arm across the back of the coach, inches from her shoulders. "If it were that easy. It would have been like I thought in the café. You would have used your incredible strength of will and worked it out yourself months ago."

"This is going to be much harder than I thought," she sighed.

"You're not dealing with this alone anymore. That's why I was in there with you. I know what triggered your panic. First lets deal with the concrete." He pulled the hourglass out of his pocket and held it in his right palm. "Do you remember what I said to you about this in the dream?"

"Yes." She leaned forward to get a closer look at the item he had cradled in his hand and her bangs tickled his cheek. "I was always used to seeing you spin a top to get your bearings. It didn't match what I knew about you."

"Now you know more." Blue eyes met brown as she looked up. He could see that she understood he wasn't simply talking about the hourglass, but admitting awake, how wrong he'd been in his twisted reasoning for carrying Mal's totem and the implications it'd had for him as a well as the team.

"I..." she fumbled, unsure what to say. "Thank you."

"You deserve to know." Cobb couldn't think of anyone else he would have spoken with that freely. It didn't matter that it had happened in a shared dream. What was important was that it was Ariadne who had heard him and understood. "About the other." He nodded slightly toward his ringless left hand and shrugged in doubt. Dom had an idea about that, but he wasn't going to discuss it with Miles present.

"Maybe it was an aberration." She sat straighter, determined to confront whatever was waiting for her in the dark, on whatever level it was found. She was sure it couldn't be worse than the knife-wielding ghost Dom had overcome.

Miles stood at a distance and watched the quickly whispered, yet intense conversation, taking place. Whatever had happened in those few minutes of shared dream had opened up two silent people. He was more determined than ever to follow this to its logical conclusion. His grandchildren needed their father happy and whole and Ariadne needed to be put back on whatever path he'd caused her to stray from when he'd introduced her to his son-in-law.

"Dom, Ari," The professor cleared his throat reminding them of his presence. "I've got an idea that might help." He smiled gently and stood facing them. "We have to fix it so you can't fall. Ari, scoot behind Dom. Pull your legs up on the couch and straighten them out so you're comfortable. Dominic, you too, I want her between you and the back of the couch." He pointed to Cobb, "Lean against the armrest and Ariadne you lean against him."

"Pardon me?" Had she heard correctly? Did the man really want her to snuggle with his son-in-law? "I don't think we'll fit."

"Yeah we will. You don't take up much room." Dom grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him so she was wedged securely between his body and the smooth leather back support.

"You're squishing me."

"Sorry," he wound his arms around her and lifted until she was partially on top of him. Her right leg over his left."

"Now we're going to try it again and Dom don't let go of her, even in the dream," Miles advised.

"But..." She squirmed when Cobb tightened his hold on her pressing her securely against his chest.

"You're not going to fall. I won't let you." Blue eyes looked down into her sleepy brown ones. "We'll be fine, you're fearless..."

The dream compound rushed through their veins and Ariadne's head slipped to Dom's shoulder and he rested his cheek against her hair.

* * *

Ari blinked. She was lying on her side on a bed, facing a white wall that reached to wooden beams along a dormered ceiling. She realized the pillow under her head had that firm-soft feeling of down. There was a dim pool of light coming from somewhere over her left shoulder. It had a warm mellow glow that made her think of candles or a lantern but for some reason she couldn't turn over to see its source. Otherwise the room was dark.

"I've got you. You won't fall." Cobb's breath warmed her ear.

"Where are we?" She stiffened realizing his body was pressed against he back. He was the reason she couldn't turn over. To appear as casual as possible, she plucked at the rolled sleeve of his navy blue shirt.

"Loire Valley, where we were before, only this time we started inside the cottage."

"I remembered windows all along the sides and front." She looked at an expanse of blank wall. The only opening was a large round window incased in aged copper. It was almost to the ceiling, centered into the V where the beams met that formed the brace to support the roof.

"I made a few changes. Given what happened on the porch I wasn't taking any chances with windows," he chuckled. "Also there was a second bed and neither of them were against the wall, as you can see, this one is."

"You're taking Miles serious, aren't you." She lay still, afraid to move, unable to ignore the weight of his arm around her waist or the contour of the one that supported her head, pulling her tightly against him.

"Very," he grunted.

"We could still fall off you know. I could turn over in my sleep and push you out of bed."

"I don't think so," his laugh rumbled up from deep in his chest. She hardly came up to his shoulder and he doubted she weighed 110 lbs soaking wet.

When he laughed, she felt it vibrate against her back but she refused to give in to the odd way it made her feel.

"Let me see your left hand." Her fingers moved down his arm until she found what she was looking for. "Still no ring. I don't understand?"

"There's one possibility, but it doesn't make much sense." He tightened his arms around her afraid she might panic again. "Do you remember what happened before you jumped, following Robert Fischer back up to the hospital level."

"Yeah, you and Mal were there. I'd...I'd shot her..." She still felt guilty about it no matter how often she'd told herself she'd only shot a projection, not a person.

"You shot her because she stabbed me." He'd heard the remorse in her voice and stroked her back gently to ease her pain.

"You died, didn't you?" She turned quickly in his arms, almost catching him off guard. "That was how you were able to get to Saito. You and he ended up on the same level because you both died in the same dream." Her words ran quickly one over the other. When she'd jumped she hadn't been aware how badly he'd been hurt, but after months of thinking about it, she'd realized it was the only way Cobb had been able to find the Japanese businessman. "But what happened to Mal, shouldn't she have been with you when you washed up on the shores of limbo that was at the bottom of all the sedative soaked layers that made up the inception dream?"

"No. What you shot was only a projection, my projection, that I'd been pulling into dreams and was unable or unwilling to let go of." He held her tightly against him. Their cheeks pressed into the same pillow so close his breath ruffled her hair. Their eyes were locked on one another, each needing to see the truth reflected back from the other in the dim light.

"Then why isn't she here now? How did you set yourself free?"

"After you jumped," he started out slowly, feeling tension coiling in her small slim body. "My projection of Mal was dying from her wound but still alive. When I was sure you were safely riding the kick upward, I...I carried out one final inception."

"What are you talking about?" Ari questioned.

"All the nights I spent alone in the warehouse, in drugged sleep, I was trying to reason with Mal. But it was useless, just as useless as it had been when she was alive." He buried his nose in Ariadne's hair to smell citrus and spice to be reminded that though they were in a dream, they were safe and sane. "As she and I lay there dying on the floor of our limbo home I did one last desperate thing. I told her that we had grown old together. That had been her goal all along and I gave it to her."

"How?" Ari frowned trying to make sense of it. "I don't understand. The Mal I met was a product of your subconscious."

"I know it's confusing, but it's the only explanation I can give for the lack of my wedding ring now. I'm no longer married and I know it in shared dreams as well as when I'm awake. I sleep nights, but I'm not sure if I have dreams. Sometimes it feels as if I have them but I don't remember them. Most importantly, Mal isn't here now nor was she outside when you took the header off the porch." It was as close as he could come to admitting that he'd planted the idea in himself by was of a very powerful projection from his subconscious.

Ariadne nodded, hearing the words he didn't speak. "There are things in dream sharing that don't make sense in the real world and that must be one of them." They were pressed together but Dom simply held her tighter. "Why didn't you and Mal grow old? Saito did or at least he believes he did from what he told me."

"He did." Dom pushed her hair off her face as they watched each other from inches away. "Once he hit limbo, he forgot he was in a shared dream. From what you say he sensed that something was wrong, but he didn't know what. The years in limbo became his reality instead of the hours that were passing as we traveled from Sydney to Los Angeles.

With Mal and me, I knew we were dreaming. She did too at the beginning, until she couldn't take it anymore and hid her totem. I think she believed that if she couldn't test for reality, it became whatever she chose. Soon after she lost the ability to tell the difference. My knowledge kept me young and because I stayed young, somehow, so did she."

"All those times I caught you hooked up to Yusuf's machine, when you thought you were alone in the warehouse, you were what? Trying to keep your projection from interfering?" She was embarrassed she'd been so wrong about his afterhours activities.

"Yes, I was getting desperate. The more our plans come together, the more I could taste home." He watched her carefully and noted the slight flush to her pale cheeks and how she suddenly couldn't meet his gaze. "What did you think I was doing, participating in the ultimate fantasy?" As he said it, he could see her shocked expression when she'd come off the elevator and discovered him in a whispered conversation with Mal.

"I'm sorry...I..." Ariadne covered her face with her hands and pressed them against his chest.

"Miss Bishop, you have a dirty mind." He grinned as she blushed and he gently slid a lock of hair behind her ear. "No, I wasn't some phantom lover." As said it, he realized he'd meant for her to think that. It had suited his purpose at the time. "That wasn't why I went into those dream/memories night after night. I had to convince her to stay away from the operation we had coming up, because if I failed, I'd never get home."

"You could have told me what you were doing." She was too exhausted to hide anything from him. Sorrow and disappointment warred for dominance in her expression. "Instead of letting me think...well what I thought about you."

"No I couldn't. At the time, I told myself it was because it was better for you. If you thought I was a slightly demented reprobate, then you'd stay out of my dreams. Mal had killed you once and tried a second time. I reasoned you'd be safer. But that wasn't the truth. I was terrified you'd tell the others how out of control I was and it would have been all over. Then Maurice Fischer died and I didn't dare say anything, so I took you along. I'm sorry for using you and for disappointing you."

"I'm not disappointed in you." She yawned and shivered. "You did what you had to do. We all did.

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah." She snuggled closer to his warm length. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Miles's study can get chilly in all but the warmest weather, if he doesn't have a fire going." He tightened his hold on her. "Come on, sit up a second, but I'm not letting go. There's a quilt at the foot of the bed."

He sat her up and held her tightly to his side as he reached for the colorful patchwork material. When he lay down on his back her head was on his shoulder and he had both arms wrapped around her. The quilt covered them and he hoped it would give the illusion of shared body heat long enough for her to get some much-needed rest. Her eyes were already drooping.

"Go to sleep, Ariadne," he whispered. "Go to sleep."

Moments later they were both fast asleep.

**TBC**


	8. Ch 7: The Heartache and The Thousand

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Note: **I'm not sure what to say. Most of the information in this conversation is important to the story. I tried to have it take place between Dom and Ariadne, but it didn't work, so I had these two people tell you what they saw, felt and think about all that is going on around them. I'm not sure they're completely correct, but here goes.

**Enjoy**

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_**Ch 7 – The Heartache And The Thousand Natural Shocks**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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Sabine Elkins's sleep was disturbed by the muffled sound of a frightened voice calling out, '_Dom, wake me up, wake me up, Dom'_.

"Mal, honey?" she gasped. Caught on that cloudy boarder between dreams and reality, her heart flared with hope that the last three years had been a nightmare and that her child was still alive, then she was fully awake and the painful truth once again asserted itself.

Sitting on the edge of her bed trying to catch her breath, there was nothing but silence, no screams, no happy laughter, no mother-daughter chats, not even Miles's occasional snores, only the thudding of her own pulse. It carried with it the knowledge she'd been living with for longer than seemed possible: her daughter had killed herself and was no more.

Throwing back the covers Sabine refused to give into emotions that threatened to overtake her. Her Mal was gone, but she still had her grandchildren to worry about. With determined steps, and the soft swoosh of her floor-length nightgown she headed down the hall to check on Phillipa and James. Maybe one of them was the source of the desperate cry she was sure she'd heard? But she found them sleeping peacefully.

With adrenaline still rushing through her veins, she pulled on her robe and picked up the seafoam-green wool throw that was folded on the foot of her bed. Wrapping it around her shoulders, she went downstairs to make some tea. That's when she saw the light shining under the double doors to Miles's study and heard the voices of the people who were working in there. She knew without being told, things weren't going well on the other side of those doors.

Ten minutes later guilt won over self-preservation and she joined her husband in his study where as he sat watching over Dominic and Ariadne who were in the midst of a shared dream.

"Is everything all right?" Sabine sat on the arm of Miles's overstuffed chair, placing a delicate china cup filled with tea on the table beside them. "I thought I heard someone calling out for help."

"You did. Were the children disturbed?"

"No, they're fine" her voice was rough from swallowed tears. "It woke me, for a second I thought it was...Mal."

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I wouldn't be doing this, especially here, if it weren't so important." Miles pulled her across his lap and held her, nuzzling her forehead and temple.

"I know and I understand." She rested her head against his shoulder. He had always been her rock and she'd been his with the exception of when their child had died. That had been the one time she'd acted the coward and pushed him away. Sabine nodded toward the small dark-haired woman who was being held tightly by the tall dark-blonde man. "They're both a bit of a mess, though Dominic is doing better than she is and much better than when we left L.A. last fall."

"You're right. I hope this will benefit both of them. It was Ariadne who screamed." Miles kept his explanation to a minimum in deference to Sabine's aversion to what was taking place.

"What happened?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but couldn't keep from asking.

"They'd been dreaming for about a minute. I don't have many details except that she fell and kept on falling out of reach and was lost from sight. She couldn't breathe and couldn't wake up. In her panic she called out for Dom to waken her." Miles sighed trying not to remember the chilling quality to Ari's voice when she was caught in the dream, panicked, unable to help herself. He found it too easy to imagine Mal going through the same thing night after night, until it drove her out of a window ten stories up.

"It must have been terrible for her."

"From what she says it's been happening for months. Dom referred it as a built-in kick."

"No wonder she's not fond of shared dreams." It was a feeling Ariadne and Sabine had in common, though the older woman's attitude was triggered by Mal's death. "It also explains why she's not getting any sleep. I'm amazed she was willing to try a second time. How did you convince her to do it?" The mother in her had sworn that she'd never be involved in any stage of dream sharing again, but the psychologist was fascinated by the girl's tenacity.

"I'm not sure I had anything to do with it. She was willing to simply bite the bullet and give it another go. The only thing I could suggest was that we find a way to keep her from falling. That's the results. I instructed Dom to hold onto her in the dream as well." He nodded to the intimately posed couple on the couch and then looked down at his wife. "Does it bother you seeing them like that?"

"No," Sabine whispered as she searched for the reason behind her answer. "I...I...wish Mal had been that strong, she might be alive today if she had been."

"Ariadne's always had a resiliency I admired, but she's been unraveling and hiding it from me since she returned to Paris." He massaged Sabine's neck, enjoying the feel of her skin. "I had to practically sit on her to keep her from leaving while Dom was putting the children to bed. I'd hardly call that strong. In fact the word that comes to mind is fragile."

"Not fragile, frighten of what is to come maybe, but not fragile." The older woman smiled to herself at the wonder of it. "If she's been deteriorating for the last seven months, it takes a formidable personality to remain even close to intact," remembering Mal's downward spiral, her voice broke. "But...but...she's tough enough to recognize help when it's offered and smart enough to reach out for it." Sabine curled tighter against Miles and accepted the support he was giving her.

"It's all right, Sweetheart, you don't have to talk about it any more," he crooned gently.

"I want to." She intertwined her fingers with her husband's. "Maybe it will make up for some of the damage I did in the past." Sabine watched Ariadne and Dominic sleep. The small slim brunette supported the much larger man, as he held her to keep her from falling. "That girl is excellent at hiding her emotions but right now, when she's the most vulnerable, she opened up. She allowed him to take control and take care of her. Do you have any idea how much strength that requires? I believe when the time comes and you finally get to the bottom of what is really tearing her apart, she'll allow him to see her cry, as well. Tears in the face of great pain or adversity aren't a sign of weakness or manipulation, they are a mighty truth."

"Mal was that strong." Miles defended his daughter as he reached over and reset the controls on the PASIV. He adjusted the timer to give Dom and Ari five more minutes in real time and one more hour of dreaming.

"No." Sabine looked sadly into the past. "Do you remember how happy she was when she first started dating Dominic?"

"Yes." He smiled. "They seemed like an ideal match."

"Did you know that when he proposed he told her that he'd dreamt that they would grown old together? At the time I thought he was being romantic but now..." She shook her head in doubt. "Now I think it may have taken place in a tiny stolen slice of a shared dream."

"They were both so infatuated with dream sharing that it wouldn't have made any difference to either of them at the time." Elkins was well aware that Dom had an innate sense of what was real and what was dream, though that ability had been shot to hell when Mal killed herself. His daughter had always had doubts. She'd been the one to come up with the idea of a totem. It had been her guide to the truth.

"There's more. The night before the wedding she told me that she was sure that Dominic was her other half. She said, _'This time tomorrow I'll be half of a whole, just like you and daddy.'_ I tried to make her understand that we were a couple, a very strong couple and better together than on our own, but each of us was a complete person within the unit. She only laughed at me and accused me of living with a sober Englishman for too long."

"You make her sound very young," a wistful note crept into his voice.

"She was young." Sabine smiled gently. "They both were and spent large portions of their lives together in shared dreams. Dominic was the architect and Mal was the psychologist assigned to go into dreams with his group. Professionally I can't fault her for her job with the team." She reached for her tea and took a sip before handing the cup to her husband. It was an old ritual, to share a nightly cup of tea. One that she'd sorely missed when she'd been gone. "I didn't learn until after she was dead, how often the two of them experimented on their own. It's something I should have known because I knew my daughter and how much she loved to step into a dream with him. I wonder how they kept a real life marriage going with all the hours they spent in a fantasy."

"Were they having problems?" Miles frowned, rattling the teacup in its saucer as he set it down, uncomfortable with what he was hearing.

"Not that I knew of, but it's inevitable that any married couple has bumps along the way. I worry…and…well…I believe she was slipping away long before anyone realized there was a problem. It happened so slowly that we just didn't see it, until finally dreaming became easier than real life. I'm convinced that's why she killed herself and tried to force Dominic to go with her."

"You've been giving this a lot of thought." Elkins wondered how he'd missed so much of importance in his daughter's life.

"I've had three years to work it out, but it's only been the last few months that things fell into place. Before I'd been too busy faulting Dominic to listen to the doubts that haunted my sleepless nights." She yawned and rubbed her cheek against her husband's chest. "I knew he felt responsible, so I made him the scapegoat."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Miles kissed her forehead. "It was a terrible time for all of us."

"Yes, but it was worse for him. He lost his wife and children in a matter of months." Sabine closed her eyes to get her bearings. "I believe that something happened in that last protracted dream they were caught in. An action or choice was made and he was convinced it was the reason Mal killed herself. But he's wrong, Dominic is wrong." She nibbled her lip hating to admit the truth, but knew it was an important step to healing. "As a psychologist, I believe that it was already too late for our daughter. She didn't do well during the nine months she was banned from dreaming while she was pregnant with James. It should have been a sign but we all missed it."

"He's never said much about that extended dream, only that it was an experiment and they became trapped on a level where time moved very slowly. It moved slow enough that he was able to teach Mal to build." Miles sighed in frustration. "As much as I'd like to know more, especially about my daughter as an architect, I won't push him now that he is doing so much better."

Sabine looked across the room at the sleeping couple as if seeing them for the first time. "He's told Ariadne about it or he let it slip in when they did that job together. It explains so much. Why she was avoiding you when she came back to Paris; why he came so quickly when he knew she was having problems; why she came with him and then willingly followed him into a dream. I know they talk. I've seen them."

"Dom talk?" he denied then remembered two whispered conversations that had taken place in his study that evening. One that convinced her to stay and the to other, after they woke from the first disastrous shared dream. "You may be right, but he's usually as closemouthed as Ariadne."

"Look at them, Miles. Take a good careful look. What do you see?"

"Two people clinging on to each other for dear life," he mumbled.

"Exactly," Sabine whispered and took it one step further. "I don't know what's in store for them. I know there is an attraction. I can see it when they look at each other but..." She shook her head refusing to speculate on the future, preferring to stick to what she knew best. "If we've learned anything from losing Mal, it's that real life problems can't be solved in shared dreaming. Over the next few days, as you take them deeper into Ariadne's dreams, we need to be sure they have a structured time to talk. Though I am sure they are talking while they sleep, it isn't the same."

"Is all of this we've been discussing your roundabout way of saying I need to stop blaming myself for what happened and get on with my life?" He held his wife tightly needing to feel the familiar reassurance of her body against his.

"I'm saying we all need to move on, all of us." Tears filled her eyes and Miles understood what she'd meant earlier about crying being mighty. There wasn't a shred of weakness in Sabine despite her wet cheeks and overflowing eyes. "If you need my help with Ariadne, I'm here, I won't avoid...I'll do what I can." She wiped her face and tried to smile. "I know it's hard. No parent is supposed to outlive their child." Her voice broke in tiny gasps.

They held tightly to each other until they both could talk and feel again without losing control. "Go upstairs, Sweetheart. I'll be up soon." Miles checked the readouts on the PASIV and adjusted the dosage of medication that was being given to Dom and Ari. "I'm going to try something new. I've set it so it reduces the sleep drugs slowly over the next fifteen minutes. With luck they'll keep right on sleeping. Either way I'll be up since they won't require monitoring any longer."

"They're both going to have stiff necks in the morning, sitting up like that." Sabine warned.

"Even if the compound were strong enough to allow it, I don't think we could move Dom. Ari alone, yes, but not him, he'd be a dead weight. It was why I suggested he hold onto her. Even in her subconscious mind she'd be aware that he'd make a good anchor, physically speaking." Miles smiled at his wife as she rolled her eyes at him. "Now you've given me all the emotional reasons my choice was a sound one."

Sabine stood and began to head for the door when a noise from the couch made her stop. It was Ariadne as she turned into Dom's embrace and snuggled closer to his body. The older woman looked carefully at the girl and made up her mind. In three quick, quiet steps she was beside the sleeping couple. She took off the soft seafoam green throw and draped it over them.

* * *

Dom's eyes fluttered open. It was dark-midnight dark, his neck hurt and he was sure he was dreaming. There could be no other explanation for him sleeping on the couch in Miles's darkened study with Ariadne. He remembered the dreams they'd shared and believed he was still asleep on the bed in the cottage in Loire Valley. Since this was his dream, he decided he was going to be comfortable. He tightened his hold on the still dreaming woman, and slid them down the couch until they were both lying down. Her head was on his chest and he had both arms around her. That was better, warmer. He tugged the odd soft blanket up and tucked it under Ari's chin, pulling her closer, tighter against him. He wasn't taking any chances of losing her no matter the level or dream they might be on.

**TBC**


	9. Ch 8: The Undiscovered Country  Pt I

**Credits: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Note: **Sorry it's taken so long but I had hand surgery. I'm typing with my dominant hand/arm in a cast. It really slows things down.

I split the chapter because it was getting way too long and there is still more to write. I may end up dividing it into thirds.

**Enjoy!**

_**Ch 8 – The Undiscovered Country – Part I**_

_**By Lattelady**_

Dominic Cobb woke slowly. The first thing he was aware of was that a woman was sleeping in his arms. Her head was on his shoulder and her hair bushed against his face. His mind cried out, _'No, not again.'_

He kept his eyes closed, refusing to look at her – refusing to accept that Mal was back. He'd thought he'd finally gotten rid of his guilt and set her free, but here she was pressed small and tight against his left side. Whether he was having a real dream or she was a projection, he didn't know or care, all he wanted was to stop living in the past.

He forced himself to take the next step; to open his eyes and deal with whatever illusion his mind had created. A shock of relief hit his system in waves as he recognized the dark head pressed close to his. The small boned hand, porcelain complexion, and petite features that didn't belong to his dead wife. "Ariadne," he gasped and buried his cheek against hers, breathing in her unique scent of citrus and spice. Holding her close and tight, not quite trusting that she wouldn't disappear or change before his eyes, Cobb dug in his pocket for his totem. He flipped the tiny hourglass over in his hand and watched as the sands ran quickly from the upper bulb to the lower one.

"Thanks you, Ariadne," he whispered and held her closer. He was awake in Miles's study. The woman beside him was real and there had been no unwanted projections visiting his dreams. Ari had guided him to truth seven months earlier and this time she had kept him anchored safely in the present for his children, for himself and for any future he might ever hope to have.

"Hmmmm," she groaned.

"Go back to sleep," he murmured, gently brushing her hair away from her face.

"What?" Her neck hurt and though her pillow was warm and comforting, it felt strange. Her nose was pressed against something that made it itch. She scrunched up her face, but that only irritated her skin more. Bringing up her left hand, she rubbed the sensitive area with the back of her knuckle. The action made her pillow jump under her head.

"Hey, don't poking me," Cobb's deep voice rumbled next to her ear as his fingers curled around her quickly moving hand.

"Dom?" Her eyes flew open, her lashes brushing against rough skin.

"Yeah." He rolled her over and pressed her into the couch when she tried to rub her nose again and jab him in the neck.

"Where are we?" she whispered, disoriented, not sure where or when they were but cognizant of the fact that neither of them were hooked up to the PASIV. That meant they had to be lost in a dream somewhere.

"Look at me. Everything is real." His fingers were wrapped around her wrists on either side of her head and he pressed her deeper into the couch when she tried to buck him off. He'd promised to keep her from falling and until she was completely awake he'd do whatever he had to do, even it meant sitting on her, to protect her. "You're safe. We're both safe."

"This isn't the cottage in the Loire Valley. The light isn't right." She raised her head trying to get a better look but was caught by his deep blue gaze.

"We're in Miles's study where we started last night."

"You're sure this isn't a dream?" Even as she asked, he moved his head enough so she could see brown leather furniture and the unique antique chandelier high above them. The room was cast in shadowy morning light that filtered in through closed blinds, enhancing the surreal feeling of what was happening. As nice as it felt, Ariadne couldn't make sense out of waking up wrapped around Dom Cobb alone in his in-laws' house.

He held up his totem with his right hand and turned it over demonstrating that they were awake, as sand grains ran quickly from one section to the other. "Now, Ms Bishop, care to tell me why you saw fit to poke me in the neck after I made sure you were able to get a good night's sleep?" His eyebrows flicked upward into hair that was falling over his forehead instead of neatly combed into place.

"I did sleep, didn't I?" She smiled contentedly and fought the urge to stretch, as she watched his miniature hourglass, believing for the first time since she woke that the months of sleeplessness might possibly be behind her.

"You sure did and so did I, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Which question was that?" She tried to look serious but the corners of her mouth fought to curve upward.

"The poking me in the neck one." He squinted, knowing she was teasing him and willing to play along.

"Because, Mr. Cobb," Ariadne pulled her hands free and cupped his face, running her short neat nails over his scratchy cheeks and on down to his slightly longer but still rough goatee. "Phillipa is right, your whiskers tickle."

"Oh, they do?" Blue eyes danced with delight as he reached again for her wrists and pinned them beside her head. Leaning down he rubbed his face over her neck. "You don't insult the whiskers," he ordered over her giggles.

"I can if I want." She laughed harder, as he dove toward the tender skin below her ear. Their bodies bounced and bumped with amusement as they enjoyed a gentle clash of wills with carefree abandon.

"But then you pay the price." Cobb rubbed his chin against the other side of her neck as his deep rich laughter filled the air. It was a sound Ariadne had only heard once. It had been the night before, when he'd been playing with his children. It made her light headed to be the object of his joy.

"Dom," she gasped his name as she tried to catch her breath between bouts of giggles.

"Ariadne," he imitated, his voice warm with delight and something else that caught them both off guard. For one tiny moment the world stood very still and there was just the two of them. Both were aware that the pleasure they were feeling wasn't simply due to two strong willed people who enjoyed verbal sparing. There was a deep physical pull that caught at them and threatened to drag them under, as their bodies moved intimately against one another.

Blue eyes stared into brown ones, looking and seeing for the first time. The room was silent except for deep breathing that bordered on gasps. She felt his breath on her face and the delicious press of his hard body over hers. He knew there were wisps of her hair tangled in his beard and that she was soft and firm, yet delicate and strong. An odd mix he'd found strangely exciting from as far back as the time she'd met his challenge to draw labyrinths and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. This morning the excitement had a stronger, richer more intimate tone.

Ari licked her lips, wanting desperately to lock him out, but she couldn't. She nodded her head, unsure if she'd agreed with some unasked question or if she was simply acknowledging that it terrified her that Dominic Cobb could punch holes in her emotional walls without even trying. It made her shiver to realize how exposed she was.

A shaft of desire, deep and carnal, made the blood pound in his ears. It was unexpected. Admiring or appreciating from a distance was one thing but to actually feel sensuality again... No woman since Mal...Or at least he'd thought no woman since Mal... But he couldn't think for wanting...wanting...wanting what, just a random woman or one in specific? Dom blinked and his vision cleared, becoming aware that Ari was trembling beneath him. His inner voice whispered, _'Too soon, too soon.'_ That voice brought with it a number of truths that fell into place and he wondered why it had taken him so long to figure them out. He cupped her cheeks and dropped his forehead onto hers, as she held tightly to his shoulders. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay." And she knew it was, no matter what she'd let him see about her feelings for him, honesty had never hurt anyone. It was lies that ate at the soul and tore at the flesh. She'd learned that lesson nine years ago and tried to teach it to Cobb last fall.

Dom pulled himself to his knees, letting his fingers slide from her face to her shoulders and down her arms until he held both of her hands in his. He pulled her upward until she was sitting. "I didn't mean to frighten you, Ariadne," his voice was soft and uncertain.

"You didn't." She shook her head and curled her legs under her body as she leaned sideways against the back of the couch, facing him. "And I didn't mean to cause you distress."

"You didn't." He smiled, knowing it was true.

"Okay, then," she grinned and nodded as she offered him her hand. "Still friends, Cobb?" Her right eyebrow twitched in challenge. Friends – the idea gave her a sense of relief because it kept him well on the outside of her emotional perimeter.

"I believe so, Ms Bishop," he agreed, as his much larger hand engulfed hers. "I believe so." Dom knew it was his smartest move until they had Ariadne glued back together. He was done with acting on emotions stirred up from shared dreaming. Real life was far too important to be based on fantasies.

"I see you're awake." Miles Elkins opened the double doors to his study letting in the bright morning sun and the noise of two young children eating breakfast with their grandmother somewhere in the distance. "I gather, from all the laughter that I heard moments ago, that things went well last night?"

"I slept." Ari smiled at the Professor, giving into the urge to yawn and stretch but it was cut short when painful neck and shoulder muscles made her wince.

"Are you all right?" Cobb ran his hand up and down her back.

"Sure, nothing a hot shower won't take care of." She plastered a smile on her face and slid along the couch until she was out of his reach.

"Dom, how did last night go for you?" Miles was intrigued by the young couple's interaction but he needed to keep all of them focused on the issues at hand.

"Sleep hasn't been a problem for me since last fall." He tried to shrug away his father-in-law's question. "Everything went fine, once we re-entered the shared dream. Both of us slept."

"Any signs of natural dreaming?" Elkins kept digging. Dom had made great strides in the last seven months and he wanted the improvements to continue.

"I thought I had, but now I don't think so."

"Tell me about it." The older man encouraged.

"When we went into the shared dream for the second time, we were sitting up, with Ariadne safely between the back of the couch and me. I have a vague memory of waking up uncomfortable. The room was dark and cold. I picked her up and carefully lay her down, covered us up and went back to sleep." He'd done more than that. He'd pulled her tight and close, overcome with the need to protect but it wasn't information he was going to share with anyone. "I thought at the time I was having a dream but when we woke and were lying down, I knew it must have really happened."

"You're probably correct, but without sleep monitors there can't be any way of telling for sure." His father-in-law agreed. "It would seem that you're both making progress."

"What does that mean? I slept, so am I cured?" The dark haired woman looked back and forth between the two men.

"Ariadne, stop trying to run away." Cobb turned toward her. "We need to see this to the end."

"But-"

"No buts about it." His temper was rising. "You made me face things I'd been hiding from. Now it's my turn to help you."

"Dominic is correct, Ari," Elkins agreed. "We aren't finished."

All right," she sighed, giving up for the moment. Why was it so hard? All she wanted to do was go home, though she was unsure where home was anymore. "Miles, what's the next step.**"**

"We start again tonight, but this time we go deeper. The first level will remain the same. Ari, you'll enter Dom's dream, again. What you built last night worked well for both of you, Dominic. The easiest thing would be to keep using it. For the second level, Ariadne will be the dreamer.

"What do I construct for that one?" Cobb was quickly sorting and planning ideas of possible structures.

"A large empty room with one door. Give Ari's subconscious a few minutes and if it doesn't fill the area with whatever she's trying to keep out, whatever is causing her inability to sleep, than go to the door and step though. In there you will have built a replica of where you slept last night except you should create it with one significant change. It's up to you what you change, but it has to be something to differentiate it from where you're sleeping one level up. It will help you know instantly which level you're on. Once the two of you are there, you should sleep and we'll repeat the exercise tomorrow night, going another level down."

"Wait, wait, guys." Ariadne held up both hands and her voice grew anxious, as it became apparent what was really happening. "This is basically an extraction and I'm the mark." She looked from one to the other as her anger grew. "Exactly how deep are you planning to dig in my subconscious?"

"As deep as we need to." Cobb relied coolly. Trying to hold onto his temper, he got up and paced as he spoke. "And there is nothing easy or run of the mill about any of this. We're not trying to steal your secrets, we're attempting to find something that is so deeply buried you couldn't recall it if your life depended on. Damnit, Ariadne, take a good long look in the mirror. You've pushed yourself very close to the edge and one night's sleep doesn't change that very much."

"Dom, take it easy, yelling at her won't help." Miles tried to bring order to the room.

"Don't you think I've figured that out for myself." Ari shot back at Cobb, as if the Professor hadn't said a word. "But it isn't only me on this little pleasure cruise of ours. You've all been through a much worse version of this before. I can't move in here and put you though it all over again. You - all of you - have lives to live that don't include me. Dom, don't you understand how much you could lose if this goes badly."

"It's not going to go badly." He insisted as he sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"But..."

"No," he whispered and dragged his thumb gently over her lips, while mouthing the word, 'later'.

She nodded slowly in response, too wrung out to argue more.

"Ari, we've got safeguards in place. You'll be safe and so will Dominic." Elkin's eyes grew sad, knowing he had to tell her the rest. "Sabine and I talked about it last night. We only wish that we'd been as aware, that _someone_ had been as aware of what was happening when our daughter needed help. We couldn't – didn't save Mal and nothing will change that but we can be sure that you come out of this safely. In return, we expect you to cooperate and do your share of the work."

"You don't play fair Professor." Ariadne watched the older man shrug but he didn't look the least bit guilty. If it had been anyone else, she would have assumed he was simply trying to use emotional blackmail to get his way, but Miles was one of the kindest men she'd ever met. "I'll do my part, whatever you need, I'll do it."

"Good, because there is one other thing. You, both of you," he included his son–in-law as well. "You need to be getting some talk therapy, while participating in shared dreaming. Sabine has volunteered her professional services."

"Sabine," Ariadne gasped and met Dom's gaze. She knew that no matter what it meant to her personally, she wouldn't break his confidence nor could she tell the older woman about the shade of a projection that Mal had become.

"If you don't feel you can talk to my wife, than you must talk to each other." He looked from the young man to the woman. Both were frozen in place, sitting close together on the couch in his study. "It's a rather elegant solution to a sticky problem, since sending a trained professional in with you would likely defeat the purpose." It had been a maneuver on the older man's part and all he needed to do was push it home. "The two of you are the only ones in that shared dream. Talking about the issues that arise while dreaming, when you are awake, is the best way to stay grounded and sure of what is real and what isn't." He looked from one to the other. "It's an important piece of the process for both of you, so I need both of you to agree."

"Of course," Dom replied without taking his eyes off of Ari. "Actually we've done it before, except she was the one making me dig for answers and I was fighting her every step of the way. I wouldn't have made it home to my children if she hadn't been so persistent."

"I...all right," Ariadne agreed hesitantly as she pulled her gaze from deep blue eyes that she was sure were going to haunt her for as long as she lived. "Though I worry these therapy sessions will make this whole thing take longer."

"That's a possibility but not something you should worry about. You're better off if it does take longer. You need a few more nights of sleep like the one you just had. You'll be stronger, more capable of dealing with whatever has damaged your sleep cycle." Miles looked at her gravely.

"I was so pleased to get some rest last night, I'd forgotten about that part of it." She pulled back slowly, aware of Dom's arm across her shoulders and the press of his thigh against her. She'd seen first hand how vicious his subconscious demons could be, were hers any less treacherous? "You realize our minds are equipped with coping mechanisms so we can live our lives and remain relativity sane." It was a subject she was very familiar with, after a year of therapy when her parents had died.

"That's true, my dear, but waking oneself up whenever one tries to sleep is not a coping mechanism, at least not a healthy one," Miles reminded her gently.

"You're probably right." She gave in but didn't look happy about it.

"Good try, Ariadne, now stop pouting. We can do this." Cobb ruffled her hair as if she were Phillipa.

"Stop treating me like one of your children." She growled and a glared at him as she pushed his hand away and combed her fingers through messed curls.

"Sorry," he mumbled, surprised and confused. Was he deliberately putting her into a more childish role so he wouldn't have to deal with the very adult responses sleeping with her in his arms elicited?

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped. You're right, I do need more than one night of sleep." She turned to look at him and accidently brushed against him. The current was back between them. It flowed sure and strong. "And you were correct earlier when you said we'd be all right, because we will be." It was as close as she could get to promising that she would do her best to stay away from intimate situations that still belonged to Mal.

"I have the utmost faith in both of you." Miles smiled. "Keep in mind that the drugs I'm using don't have the exaggerated extenders Yusuf's did, time will move slower the deeper you go, but there won't be as intense a difference between levels, as there was with his compounds. Though, I'd advise giving yourselves less and less dream time with each level as a safeguard. But that's information for tonight. I don't know about you two, but I'm hungry. Anyone care to join me for breakfast?"

**TBC**


	10. Ch 9: The Undiscovered Country Pt II

**Credits: **See Prologue

**Beta: **Huge thanks to Vashti. Any remaining errors are mine, she did a great job.

**Rating: **PG13 though a bit of heat has been implied.

**Note: **Long chapter but there wasn't a good break. This is Dom and Ariadne's conversation about their dreams.

Also you will see that Arthur has gained a last name, Allan'. No real reason it simply worked. Eames has gained a first name, Conrad. It seemed to fit.

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

_**Ch 9 – The Undiscovered Country – Part II**_

_**By Lattelady**_

_**

* * *

**_

Cobb had planned to take Ariadne for a walk along the Seine, after the mid-day meal, while his children napped, but a heavy spring rainstorm descended on Paris as they ate. It caused him to find another place where they could hold their Miles and Sabine mandated conversations.

"Where are we going?" Ari looked out the windshield, past quickly moving wipers. The city was grey and very wet. Dark heavy clouds pelted the area with thick droplets that brought traffic to a standstill and echoed off the convertible top of Miles's prize 1954 Triumph TR 2. Wind blew every which way, turning umbrellas inside out and sending hats dancing down the street.

"I thought it might be appropriate to go back to the beginning."

"You missed the turn-off for the University," she pointed out. It was the beginning for her, where Miles had introduced them and where Cobb had given her two minutes to draw a maze that couldn't be solved in less than one. The exercise had piqued her interest and challenged her abilities.

"That's were the audition took place. I'm talking about the real beginning." As he spoke, he stopped across the street from the abandoned warehouse were all the prep work had been done for planting an idea in Robert Fischer's mind.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ariadne's hand covered his as he shifted into park. "I mean, what if the building is being watched. It could tie us back to the inception." During her seven lonely months in Paris she'd ached to return to this place. To be where they'd all been together, working hard, where she'd discovering things she never imagined existed. A place, where she knew that if she closed her eyes, she'd have been able to see and hear Dominic Cobb in her imagination.

"No one is watching the building. Only a handful of us know that anything out of the ordinary took place and it would be impossible to prove." He could read the worry in her eyes and did his best to reassure her. "One of Saito's subsidiaries owns the property. It was purchased when we came back from Mombasa with Eames. Mr. Saito considered it neater than renting. When he and I had dinner in LA almost two-and-a-half weeks ago, Saito told me about it and gave me the keys." Cobb had thought it odd at the time. Paris hadn't been in his plans. Nothing had been, except going to the library and grocery store with his children the next day.

"But we don't have a legitimate reason to be here." Ariadne wasn't sure why she was so reluctant about going in. It was a piece of her past and for the most part a pleasant one.

"You're beginning to sound paranoid. You really do need a few more nights of good sleep." Dom ran his thumb lightly along her jaw. "We don't need a reason and if we did, I'm an architect employed by Saito International, Inc. I accepted his offer this morning but told him I couldn't leave Paris until I took care of some family business."

"You did not!" She was sure he wouldn't uproot his children that way.

"I did so-"

"But what about Phillipa and James?"

"They're coming with us of course. From the pictures Saito sent me, and the prospectus I've seen, it'll takes us anywhere from six months to a year until construction begins. After that any changes we need to make can be done online." It had been a long time since he'd been this excited about creating a real structure.

"Wait, what's all this _us_ and _we_ business?" It had taken her a moment to catch on that he wasn't simply talking about his children or even Miles and Sabine.

"Saito faxed me two contracts, one for you and one for me. He wants us to design his hotel on Hera, fifty-five miles off of Crete in the Aegean Sea. I'm not trying to talk you into anything. The decision is yours. I'd advise taking a look at the terms before you make up your mind. Our Japanese friend wanted me to give you his regards and his sincere hope that you will join this venture. He seems to believe that it will lack the excitement of our last one but thought that might appeal to you."

"How the hell does he know I'm qualified? I don't even know if I am."

"He wouldn't be offering either of us a job if he weren't sure of our abilities. Under that gentlemanly guise beats the heart of a ruthless businessman." Cobb'd had the same thoughts about himself until he remembered whom he was dealing with. "Ariadne, talk it over with Miles and if you still have doubts but want to do it, I'll bring you aboard as a sub-contractor of my company. I'll need the help. The project is too big for my one man operation."

"I ... damn..."

"Maybe I should have waited until you had your sleep issues under better control to tell you about this." He took her hand and held it between both of his. "But you're worried and I wanted you to know you've got viable options."

"When did all of this calling and faxing take place?" Ari wasn't sure what she wanted. She already knew Dom and Miles were right, she needed more sleep with a Cobb-sized Teddy bear to keep the night terrors and built-in kicks away.

"It happened while you were washing Phillipa's hair. Thank you for doing that. It meant a lot to her."

"You're welcome. It was fun and I'd promised her she could use my shampoo and conditioner." Ariadne had enjoyed her time spent with the little girl. She didn't know why she felt it necessary to explain her reasons but couldn't stop talking. "Sabine wanted to get in some new rose bushes before it rained. It was the least I could do to help."

"Now it's time to stop procrastinating, for both of us." He reached over and undid her safety belt. "You wait in your seat and I'll come around with the umbrella."

Moments later Dom was opening her door and reaching in to help her out of the low-slung sports car. They huddled together under the protective black circle of cloth, as they dashed across the street. He held the curved handle tightly in one fist while Ariadne was tucked securely against his other side with his arm around her. "Don't want you blowing away," he murmured as she gripped the metal ribs above his head to keep their shelter from being turned inside out.

"Here take this." He handed her the folded umbrella once they were under the wide stonework archway that protected the door and entrance from inclement weather. Moments later Cobb worked the key into the lock that was stiff from lack of use. Once inside he carefully locked the door to the deserted building and left the umbrella open to dry at the bottom of the stairs leading to the loft warehouse where they'd spent so much time seven months earlier.

"Now, let's go." He took Ariadne's hand and they climbed the stairs.

"It doesn't look all that different." She looked around. The stone columns and high ceiling with large skylights were gray and slightly damp, whether from leaks or condensation, she didn't know or care. There were still old newspapers covering the lower half of many of the windows that made up a good portion of the walls. Where there was brick it was still dirty white, in need of a good paint job. Bits and pieces of furniture were scattered here and there, but anything that would link this place to shared dreaming had been removed by Arthur Allan and Conrad Eames, before the individual team members had flown separately to Sydney. "Somehow I thought it would have changed, too," she sighed. It didn't seem fair that she was the only one or thing to have deteriorated.

"Give me your coat, it's wet." Cobb helped her slip out of her damp jacket and hung it on a wall hook beside his. His actions were ingrained from weeks and weeks of coming and going together, except for those nights when he'd stayed and had private dream sessions. "I know what you mean. I get a strange sensation of déjà vu." As he said it, he reached for his totem and caught a like movement of Ari's hand when she absent-mindedly reached for hers.

"Okay, this has got to stop." Dom chuckled, holding out his palm with his miniature hourglass sitting in the middle of it. "It seems we're _both_ a bit paranoid."

"How many times in the last seven months have you checked yours?" She rolled her bishop in her hand, savoring its weight and the truths it represented, before returning it to the front pocket of her jeans.

"I don't know." He shrugged and put the hourglass away. "Too often to count. I get the feeling that I'll be relying on it until the day I die."

"Yeah, me too." She agreed. "Though it stands to reason for you. You had two very rough years..."

"More than that actually." He laughed harshly, trying to shake off the slow cruel ending of a marriage that had begun with such promise. "At least when I check my totem nowadays, I'm not holding a loaded revolver inches from my head."

"Oh my God," Ariadne gasped. "When...I mean...what if you misinterpreted its meaning? You've got children to think about." It was hard for her to imagine he'd been that desperate, though he'd been the one to teach her that death was the only way to wake from a shared dream. Unfortunately, the heavy compounds used during their inception deviated from that rule.

"The first few weeks I was home, I doubted everything, especially when I felt happy. I used my totem often and with blind faith. I could have made a mistake easily. One night, I almost did. It was late. James and Phillipa were asleep. I don't know what caused me to have doubts but suddenly I was spinning Mal's top. It seemed to spin forever and I panicked. I remember sitting frozen in my chair, staring at that damn thing as it went round and round. I kept asking myself, how could I be dreaming if my children were sleeping upstairs, safe in their beds. The only thing that saved my life was that I'd locked my pistol in the bedroom wall safe to be sure it was out if their reach." He'd been watching the rain hit the skylight high above his head, as he talked, oblivious to the damage his words were doing to the woman beside him, until he heard her groan painfully.

"Ariadne." He had his arms around her in seconds, afraid she was going to hit the ground. Her face was white as a sheet.

"I'm all right."

"No you're not." He shook her gently, just enough to get her attention.

"You're right, I'm not." She gripped the front of his Black Watch plaid shirt and let her anger pour out. Her cheeks went from translucent to livid pink in an instant. "How dare you be so careless! You have two small children who need you. What would have happened to them if you had died, too! You idiot!" she exploded. "You have a phone. You could have called any number of people who love you. Any one of them would have talked you down. You could have called me and I would have kicked your ass all the way from Paris."

"Hey, hey, easy there, Tiger." He pulled her into an embrace and rested his cheek against her hair. "Now you know why I've been so frightened for you, why I've pushed you so hard."

"Yeah, I get it now." She squeezed her eyes closed trying to wipe out the picture his words had created in her mind. It was too easy to imagine him dead. She knew firsthand the loss James and Phillipa would have felt.

"Some good came out of that night." He kept one arm around her and they began to walk slowly around the large room where they'd spent so much of the previous fall. "Intellectually, I knew all the reasons why I should get rid of Mal's totem but emotionally I hadn't been able to let it go. That night changed everything. I went to the cliff beyond my house and threw the damn thing in the Pacific Ocean. Do you remember me telling you about it in our shared dream last night?"

"Yes," she nodded, still horrified by what could have happened.

"There is more that you need to remember from last night's dreaming session." He frowned and rubbed his forehead. "Sabine thinks you're afraid of something and that's what is causing your built-in kick. I don't know if she's right, but she's very good at what she does, and to be safe, Miles has kept her apprised of your situation. I wanted to remind you that my projection of Mal is gone. She won't be invading my shared dreams again."

"I'm not afraid of her. I hated that she shredded your emotions every time we ran into her."

"She doesn't have that power any longer. I set her free. Do you remember me telling you that?"

"Yes, you undid the damage of the first inception on Mal by planting a second one." She hoped he was right but his beautiful dead wife meant so much to him, it was hard to imagine he'd be able to fool his inner thoughts into letting her go.

"I can see you doubt me. It doesn't mean crap that my conscious mind understands I planted the idea in myself," his words snapped and echoed off the walls, admitting a truth he'd skirted around the night before. "It's the subconscious mind that controls the projections. If the projection believes, than so does my subconscious." He knew it was an unusual idea, but it had worked.

"Monsters from the Id," Ariadne whispered, recalling the line from _Forbidden Planet._

"You watch too many old science fiction movies."

"Ah, but they're the friend of the exhausted insomniac." She smiled that he was able to correctly identify the source of her quote. It said a lot about what his sleeping habits had been at one time.

"You need to take this seriously. I'm trying to be sure you understand what happened and how many of my own rules I broke that put the group in danger. Damn, I'm trying to apologize." Frustration got the better of him and he pulled away, running his fingers through his hair. "And I want to know the real reason you insisted on coming along when you were the only one who understood how dangerous it really was, the only one who knew my secrets."

All the air went out of Ari's lungs and her shoulders sagged as she walked slowly to the back of the warehouse to sit on top of the sturdy old desk. The lounge chairs had long since been removed but the desk, and some of the worktables remained. This was the spot where she'd snuck into his dream and he'd showed her Dominic Cobb's back pages.

"If that's something you really want to know, you've brought us to where it began... Or maybe the beginning was really in my dream created version of Pont Royal Bridge, where I first met Mal."

"Where she attacked and killed you with a knife, you mean," his voice was low and rough at the memory that felt painful and new, even if it had happened in a dreaming session nine months earlier. He closed his eyes and could see how he'd struggled to get to Ariadne but the crowd had restrained him. All he had been able to do was watch and listen to her screams, as the blade plunged into her belly.

"You get points for honesty." She shivered remembering her initial reaction. How she'd walked away from him, intending to never return but fascination with the project, or so she'd believed at the time, hadn't allowed her to stay away. "I don't know what Miles has told you about me but I've got this blind spot or oddity. Some might call it a fatal flaw: I hate lies."

"How about calling it what it really is," he suggested, "strong moral fiber."

"Maybe." She shrugged. "All I'm certain of is that I'd rather have the truth no matter how painful, no matter what the cost, than the kindest falsehood." She shook her head trying to drive away doubts. "But I've lost my balance somewhere in these last seven murky months, because I don't know what's true and what isn't anymore."

"We'll get it back for you." Dom stood in front of her running his hands up and down her arms. "I promise we will."

"I know you'll try." She smiled and gripped his right hand as he sat beside her on the desk. "And I will too. I can start right now by answering your question.

"All those months ago I told you I was doing it for the group." Ari continued. "I meant it and it is still part of the reason, but there's more to it than that. The deeper we went and as I learned your secrets and hidden past, I hated seeing you live a lie. You had so many people who loved you, the Professor, your children and all your friends, but you settled for living in the past or worse than the past, a world of memories that only existed in your head. It was killing you and everyone around you. I was...well I became obsessed with forcing my beliefs on you."

"Thank you, Ariadne, for your obsession," he laughed softly. "And for bothering to see what no one else could." He turned her toward him and slipped his arms around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "If you hadn't been so driven to find the truth, we would have all been trapped in limbo until we were insane or dead.

She wiped away tears that had been forming and looked into his eyes. "I've got a question for you. Why didn't you take the easy out and show Arthur your elevator ride through hell?"

"There were a number of reasons. The first was expedience." He looked into her serious face and gently touched her cheek. "We ran out of time when Maurice Fischer died. There was a lot to finish and we still had to fly to Australia so we could make the trip with his son from Sydney to LA. But the rest is much more complicated."

"Is there time before we have to start back?" She wasn't sure how long his children napped. "That is if you're willing to talk about it."

"Sabine blocked out the whole afternoon for us and left us very specific orders to take care of whatever comes up." He checked his watch and it was just past two. "We'd make the time even if we didn't have to be back until supper." Cobb thought for a moment. It wasn't something he would have chosen to bring up so soon but Ariadne needed truth and he was going to give it to her.

"I've known Arthur for a long time. We were friends before my life went to hell. He knew Mal both before and after she began to...to..." Cobb sighed. It was easier to tell Ariadne the short version of his life before his wife's suicide. There would be time for more later. He intended to make sure of it. "Then Mal was gone and I was on the run. Arthur had no compunction about helping me. He joined me using the skills Miles had taught us in a way my father-in-law never meant them to be used. Then Mal's projection began showing up unexpectedly during extractions."

"Did you explain to him what was happening?" Ari had wondered if the other man's prior history with the Cobbs had blinded him to the truth.

"No, but at first I didn't get it either." He shook his head at how foolish he'd been. "I thought it was nothing, simply an inconvenient way of grieving. But she wouldn't let me deny her existence even if it was only in dreams. The harder I tried, the meaner, angrier and more destructive she became."

"Didn't he see what was going on?" It had been apparent to Ari from her first violent meeting with the projection that something was very wrong.

"He saw that I was having problems but I kept telling him I had it under control." Dom admitted.

"How could he have believed you? It was so obvious."

"She was different with Arthur." Cobb held her a little closer, afraid Ari would bolt out into the rain when she learned the truth. "Mal was as ruthless with others as she was with you and me but it was always cool, calm, and logical. Those aspects can be dealt with, planned for and hopefully controlled and eliminated."

"I don't get it. She was never calm and logical, more like passionate and driven." Ariadne talked using her hands to emphasize her point.

"Ari, you have to understand that my projections of her came from my subconscious. I had no control over them." He needed to hear her say the words before he went on. If there was any confusion at this point he might lose her trust and any chance of getting her sleep cycle back to normal.

"I know that, Dom, but I still don't understand why she was treating Arthur differently."

"She treated him exactly like she did anyone else who dreamed with me, with the exception of you." His eyes didn't leave Ari's serious face and he held her tighter as she became more confused.

"But why? That doesn't make sense."

"Because, Ariadne, she knew how I felt about you before I did."

"That's crazy," she whispered and tried to pull away. "You were mourning your wife. She was the only woman you thought about." Ari had told herself from the beginning that he was an older safe male whose company she enjoyed, much like Miles.

"No, wait." Cobb wouldn't let her wiggle out of his arms. "Hear me out. I may have been a widower when we met, but I wasn't dead. I knew you were a smart, talented, attractive, desirable woman. Hell, we all knew it."

"You guys talked about me like that!" she gasped.

"No, no, of course not. We respected you too much; well most of us did. Arthur tried to put the moves on you on the hotel level of the dream." Dom growled and frowned at the memory.

"Get over that already. That wasn't what happened." She didn't know if she should be flattered that he was jealous or annoyed at where the conversation was going. "He really was only trying to hide from the projections that were searching for him."

Cobb frowned realizing she believed what she was saying, but thought it a bit naive and a sure sign of lack of experience.

"Dom, think about it. How many jobs have you done with Arthur?" She ran her hand over his face trying to smooth out his scowl. "Would he risk ending up in limbo for decades and blowing the entire operation for someone who had already told him no?"

"I guess not."

"Then leave it in the past where it belongs." Ari pushed against his shoulders and angled her body to slip down from the desk. She'd managed to get his mind off the issue of feelings, now she had to keep him focused on something else. "Isn't it time we were getting back?"

"Wait, Ariadne, there's more you need to hear if I'm going to answer your original question." He pulled her back up beside him and kept his arms around her. "Some of what was going on inside my head, I was vaguely aware of as it was happening. I kept telling myself that it was simply because your tenacity and strength were like a breath of fresh air that I was attracted to you."

"Dom," she sighed. "You shouldn't be talking that way."

"Why not, Tiger, it's the truth." He kept one arm around her and cupped her cheek reassuringly. "Don't look so frightened. I'm not going to hurt you or push you. You're safe, I promise."

"I do not look frightened." She glared. "I don't want to...well..." she waved her hand between the two of them. "You're wrong...there's isn't..." But even as she said the words a tiny inner voice whispered, "_liar."_ For the first time in years she was afraid of the truth.

"Let me finish explaining this to you." Cobb took a deep breath and plunged back in. "I could have taken Arthur on that same elevator ride I took you, but it would have been totally different. He would have seen the same floors but when it came to interacting with Mal it would have been like night and day. When she came after you in dreams, it was always with a sharp object, something that would do damage up close, and very personally. With Arthur, if she dealt with him at all, it was from a distance. The worst she ever did was shoot him in the knee and she didn't bat an eyelash, simply watched me to see how I reacted."

"You brought me along so you could provoke her?"

"No, I brought you along because you and I were the only ones who understood how really dangerous she was and I... Well I wasn't sure I'd be able to make the hard choices if I was backed into a corner. It's why I kept you with me whenever I could. Knowing you had my back, allowed me to concentrate on keeping us moving downward."

"I guess there really are monsters from the Id." She wanted to ask him so much more but lacked the courage.

"I happen to think Freud was full of crap so unless you're back on science fiction, I'd have to say no." Cobb spoke with careful finality, "I created my monster and it was up to me to lead her peacefully away."

"Please, don't play word games," her voice cracked as she looked upward into intense blue eyes that burned through her with the power of nuclear fusion.

"It's so much the wiser thing to do," he whispered, deep and rich against her temple as he reach over and pulled her onto his lap. "I feel it too, you know? The chemistry, the need." He nuzzled her throat breathing in her intoxicating scent.

"Dom," his name was a breath that warmed his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It took everything in her not to check her totem. Her logical mind told her they had to be lost in a dream somewhere.

He stood with her in his arms and slowly lowered her legs until she could stand. Their bodies pressed close, each needing the feel of the other. It was like it had been that morning, only this time they moved with deliberate intent, touching, feeling, wanting and needing.

"Wait, stop," Ariadne cried out, remembering where she was and that it was really happening. "I don't let people get this close." They both knew she wasn't simply talking about proximity, but emotionally as well.

"Too late, Tiger." Cobb ran his lips gently over hers but refrained from kissing her. "I'm already in. I've been in, we've both been in, for longer than either of us realized." He wrapped his hand around her jaw and tilted her face upward. "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kiss you?"

"Please, don't do it," she whispered as her eyes filled with tears but her body had a mind of its own as it leaned closer to him. She was confused. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to feel anything for her.

"Ariadne, honey, it's okay. I'm not going to." He rested her head on his chest and ran his hand through her hair. "I can't kiss you and then not touch you when you're beside me tonight."

"This is crazy. It came out of nowhere. This...this reaction must be some kind of dream induced..."

"It isn't dream induced, and these feelings didn't come out of nowhere. Mine have been building since the day I met you." His patience was growing thin. God, he wanted her but he knew it was impossible if he was ever going to piece her back together.

"I can't give you answers that I don't have." She nibbled on the side of her lower lip. She'd known she had feelings for him and thought it a harmless crush on a man who could never return them. Now he was changing all the rules.

"You don't have to." He stepped away and began to guide her back to where their coats were hanging on the wall. "The only thing I need to hear from you right now is that you trust me enough to let me continue helping you, and that you believe me when I say that I'd never attempt to take things any further in a dream."

"I trust you on both counts." She shivered as he ran his hands over her shoulders while helping her into her jacket. "And you need to remember what I said earlier. I don't let people in, Cobb."

"Damnit, it's Dom. You've been using my first name all day. Stop trying to resurrect your walls." He backed her against a column, while cradling her face in his hands. "Who hurt you so badly that you try to keep the rest of the world out?"

"No one," she insisted. "I've never let anyone get close enough." It was true she didn't or hadn't until Dominic Cobb came along. He made her want things she thought she'd put aside long ago.

"Maybe not on purpose." He wouldn't let her go until they settled this between them. "You just told me you cared enough to try and save me from my own personal hell. You cared enough to risk your sanity and your life instead of walking away. Sorry, Tiger, if I wasn't already in, it sure sounds like you wanted me to be."

"No, I...I..." she stuttered as his lips moved closer to hers. "I did it for the group."

"Ariadne, you value truth and that's what I've given you." He dragged his mouth against hers and felt her melted against him.

"Please, I'm not ready for this," her words were broken, almost a whisper. Ari remembered how close they'd been, all the touches, handholding and tenderness, how much she'd longed for him to look at her with eyes that cared and she realized a deep attraction had been there from the moment she'd stepped into a dream with him. "I didn't mean to be a tease."

"You weren't." He rubbed his thumb along her cheek. "You're a pleasure."

"I still need to figure this all out. I need to know why I've got those damn walls to begin with and why it terrifies me that you've breached them so completely."

He pulled her into a gentle hug and was gratified when she wrapped her arms around him. "When I was lost you guided me back to the real world of my children and life outside of dreams. Now it's my turn. Honesty was your compass and sometime during all your sleepless nights you misplaced it. I won't let you get lost, I promise." He leaned his head back so he could see her face. "Until you can find you own way, I'll be your magnetic north."

"I think I'd like that, Dom."

"Good, let's get going." He took her hand and they headed toward the stairs but he stopped before they'd gone more than three feet. "Ariadne." Dom swung her around until she was facing him "There's one other thing. When we've gotten to the bottom of your problems and you're back to being you again." He looked her up and down and she felt as if the heat in his eyes burned straight through her clothes. "I'm coming for you. I plan on collecting on that kiss," though his tone said he wanted much more.

"I'm not sure..." Her natural instinct was to try and block him, though she knew it was useless, because it was far too late.

"I am." He smiled. "And that's the truth."

**TBC**


	11. Ch 10: The Undiscovered Country Pt III

**Credits: **See Prologue

**Poem Credit: **The verse Cobb recites is from _The Owl And The Pussy-Cat _by Edward Lear. I own a copy of it but nothing else.

**Beta: **Thanks to Vashti who went out of her way to get this done. Any errors that remain are mine. She did a great job.

**Rating:** PG13

**Note: **Not as intense as the last chapter but I think you'll like it. And yes, people there will be a part four to this.

**Enjoy**

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_**Ch. 10 - The Undiscovered Country – Part III**_

_**By ****Lattelady**_

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"Ariadne, it's Dom." He identified himself as he knocked on her bedroom door. "May I come in?"

"Sure, door's unlocked," she called out. "I just need to find..." her voice trailed off as she looked up from the floor where she was kneeling beside her suitcase, searching for something to cover the tank top of her pajamas. "You're ready? That was fast." She'd never seen him dressed so casually, even when she'd invaded his dream. Tonight he was wearing sweatpants, a tee shirt with his light denim button-down flapping open and he was barefoot.

"Phillipa and James are asleep and Miles is set-up down the hall." Cobb nodded his head toward the bedroom he was using. "It's time we got started."

"Are you sure we shouldn't be doing this in the study." While they'd been gone that afternoon, Sabine and Miles had rearranged the furniture in Dom's room so his bed was against the wall.

"I don't know about you but I wasn't looking forward to another night on that couch." He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets studying her. Something was bothering her.

"Neither was I." She met his gaze and refused to look away, no matter how much she wanted to. "But what if I wake up screaming again? Your children don't need anymore trauma in their lives."

"That's not going to happen. Once those two are sleeping, nothing disturbs them. The problem is getting them to hold still long enough to fall asleep in the first place." He saw the worry she was trying to hide flash across her face and joined her on the floor beside her case.

"I woke Sabine last night." She looked down unable to meet his steady blue gaze. It was easier to reach for a red silk blouse from her neatly folded clothes, than to admit how exposed it made her feel that everyone knew, that everyone had heard her at her weakest. It didn't help her composure that he was sitting so near she could feel the heat radiating off his body. His presence and what it did to her were an entirely different set of problems.

"That was before Miles figured out how to keep your built-in kick under control. After that you were fine. You made it through the worst part of the night, the transition between shared dreaming and natural sleep with no problems. Tonight won't be any different. I'll keep you anchored like I did before. The only difference is that neither of us will have a sore back or neck muscles that are tied in knots tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" anxiety made her voice crack and her fingers dug deeper into the soft material she was holding.

"Ahhh, now I understand." He covered her hands with one of his and ran his thumb over her tense knuckles. "You're embarrassed."

"Well of course I am." She glared at how calm he appeared. "It's awkward getting into bed with a man while his father-in-law is in the same room."

"And I didn't make it any easier on you with our conversation this afternoon." Dom kept gently caressing her tense fingers, hardly realizing he was doing it.

"No...Yes...I don't know," she sighed and let her blouse drop, so she could grip his insistent hand that was slowly driving her crazy. "I appreciated the honesty but you're right, it makes it harder when I'm dressed like this or rather undressed like this." She felt his eyes travel over her bare shoulders, loose tank top and light blue pajama bottoms.

"I can see what you mean," he muttered, reaching for her shoulder and running the thin strap of her top between his thumb and forefinger.

"Please, don't," her voice shook, and her shoulder arched away from his touch. "You're not making this easy but I'll be damned if I'll wear my clothes to bed like...like...some nervous child," she snapped because that was exactly how she felt.

He saw the slight flush on her cheeks and the bewildered look in her eyes. It brought home exactly what she'd meant when she'd said she didn't let people get close to her; and the importance of the fact that he'd won her trust and she'd allowed him in. Dom wasn't about to lose that. He was glad he'd had the forethought to wear sweatpants instead of the much thinner pajama bottoms he usually wore. The last thing Ari needed was a morning surprise that he couldn't prevent.

"Ariadne, I want you to feel safe," the words were hushed and gentle between them. "I've pushed you fast and hard. I deliberately rushed you, when you packed. I was afraid if you had time to think it through, you'd change your mind. My one goal was getting you to Miles and Sabine. I was terrified that history might repeat itself, even if, at the time, I didn't realize how bad things were for you." He slipped out of his denim button-down. "Put this on."

"It's yours." She blinked surprised by the gesture.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's clean and will be more comfortable than sleeping in that silk thing."

"That blouse fits." She held the denim shirt up to her shoulders. She and Dom were sitting so close, its tails covered their thighs.

"An extra layer, even if it is a bit large, never hurt at times like these."

"And how much experience do you have with _times like these_, Cobb?" She deliberately used his last name to put further emotional distance between them and he let her because it defused the tension between them, allowing her to put on the shirt.

"This exact situation?" He grinned and helped her by rolling up the sleeve to uncover her hands. "Actually none. You're right, sharing a bed with a woman while Miles watches gives me the creeps."

"Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear." She rolled her eyes and tried to keep a straight face but lost out to giggles as she fastened the buttons down her front.

"Much better." He sat back on his heels checking her out from head to toe. Not only was she well covered but the atmosphere was lightened considerably.

"This is kinda comfortable. Like wearing my father's shirt for finger painting in kindergarten." She grinned at him.

"I'm not your father," he growled.

"No, no you're not." She shook her head at how careless she'd gotten around Dom Cobb. She'd spent a year in therapy talking about every aspect of her parents' sudden loss and never wanted to mention it again. It led to questions and sympathy and things she'd dealt with years earlier.

The odd look on his face sent her searching for an evasive maneuver. "Look, there's even a place for me to keep my totem." She played with the right pocket flap and reached for her bishop. "That is unless you were planning on keeping yours there. If that's why you were wearing it, you can have it back."

"No, I keep it here." He patted his hip pocket as he stood and looked down at her. "You about ready?"

"Yeah," she sighed relieved that he hadn't noticed that she'd deftly changed the subject. But for one moment she felt odd, almost like she was falling and there was something from a long ago memory, a scent, a perfume, almost like _roses?_

"Ari where'd you go?" Dom stood in front of her with his hand out.

"I...a...guess I'm more worried about tonight than I thought." She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "It can't be too bad, whatever we find down there?" She looked to him for reassurance.

"Whatever it is, we'll deal with it together." Cobb gave into the urge and touched her cheek. She'd gone to some hidden place and it was evident she didn't want him following, maybe he'd have better luck in their shared dreaming.

"Thanks for understanding." She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and leaned into his hand where it cupped her cheek. "I mean, for understanding all of it." In that moment she knew he did. He was well aware how nervous she was about spending the night sleeping beside him and Miles didn't have a damn thing to do with it.

* * *

"Do you remember the plan from this morning?" Miles Elkins looked back and forth between the two young people. Ari was on the bed with one leg curled beneath her. The other stretched out almost touching Dom, who was sitting with one hand resting on the mattress beside her ankle. It was an oddly protective position, as if his son-in-law felt it necessary to be between Ariadne and the rest of the world.

"Yes, first level is like last night, but instead of sleeping, we enter a second shared dream. This time it's Ari's dream. I've constructed a large empty room that hopefully she will fill with projections. If she doesn't we go through a door and there will be a replica of where we are sleeping one level up, except I've changed one item so we know where we are. When we get there, if we get there, we sleep." Cobb gave an abbreviated version of their morning discussion.

"Very good." The Professor nodded. "Do you have any questions, Ariadne?"

"No, none, lets just get on with it." She gripped her totem through the shirt she was wearing. It kept her from giving into the storm of anxiety that was brewing inside of her.

"I've got one. How deep can we go without using sedatives?" As much as Dom hoped this would be solved tonight, it seemed too easy. "The combination of strong medication and numbers of layers causes the brain to speed up so that by the time we're three layers down minutes pass like years."

"You are correct in your correlation between thought processes and strong sedatives but we aren't using them in this case. You won't need anything beyond the very short acting one that puts you and Ariadne into the first dream." Miles explained. "This may be an extraction of sorts but very different from the kind you're used to. We're not trying to force Ari into revealing well guarded information, simply seeking a truth that is hiding from her."

"You're sure?" Cobb probed. He'd ended up in limbo twice and he wasn't taking any chances. Neither he nor Ariadne were in any shape to deal with being lost for decades.

"Very, but to be on the safe side I'll set the timer for four minutes tonight." Elkins redid his calculations. "With the medications I'm using you'll have twelve minutes of dreaming for every one up here." He pointed to the bed. "Each level down your dream time will double."

"Only double? That doesn't seem right." Ari was surprised. "That means forty-eight minutes on the first level and ninety-six on the second."

"It's the sedatives that cause the problems. We are able to do this without them, because you're helping us, my dear." Miles needed to know she understood. "I'm sure Dominic has told you that shared dreaming was originally developed as a tool for the US military. Soldiers dreamed war games making them feel authentic. We learned early on that anything of that scope and magnitude required much deeper sleep than normal. What we're doing here is a unique situation, no physical violence, no manipulations, or tricks."

"Okay, I get it. I'll do my best, I promise. Can we just get on with it?" her voice came out strident with a hint of agitation she was trying to hide.

Cobb saw her eyes darken with nerves and lay down on his right side with his arm stretched out against her pillow. "Come here." He nodded toward his shoulder. "Like last night, remember?" he kept his voice calm and soothing so she didn't panic.

Ariadne took a shallow breath and slipped under the covers, lying down beside him. He pulled her closer so her back was pressed tightly against his chest, allowing him to tuck his body around hers. "I've got you. You're safe," he whispered unsure if he was reassuring her about what they might find in her dreams or about his close physical presence.

"I need your left hands." Miles started an IV in each of them. "Now get comfortable." He watched them shift so Dom's arm was around Ari and their left hands resting on the far side of the bed, next to her shoulder, fingers brushing. Moments later they were both asleep.

* * *

"Ariadne," she felt her name rumble against her back. "We're in." Dom leaned over her to be sure she wasn't having any problems on the first level.

"It looks just like it did last night." She saw the expanse of white wall, unbroken except for a large round window in an aged copper frame. It was set high on the wall, between wooden beams of the dormered ceiling. "You even included the lighted lantern on the nightstand."

"Miles said to keep it the same." Cobb shifted slightly. "And we'll need light to set up the equipment. You stay right where you are while I get the kit." He turned over and reached into the bottom drawer of the nightstand for the metal case that held everything they'd need. Once they were ready he wrapped both arms around her and lay down.

"This isn't exactly comfortable," Ariadne wiggled until her right arm wasn't buried between them.

"Stop fidgeting," he breathed into her ear.

She rolled her eyes at his impatience. "My arm was stuck."

"It's taken care of, so relax, cause I'm not giving you any more room. When we hit the next level I want you tight against me. You're too good of an architect and you've built in dreams before. If you panic, you could unknowingly punch a hole in whatever we find down there." He'd given it a lot of thought and believed that was what had happened on their first try the night before. "This time if you fall, you're taking me with you."

"Great, that way we can both suffocate." She glared at him and never saw him press the dispenser on the PASIV.

* * *

"Dom, what is this place?" Ariadne's eyes darted around a room that seemed to go on forever. She was standing pressed against his side, surrounded by murky shades of twilight that rippled around them.

"An empty room." Cobb kept his arm around her shoulders and wouldn't let her move, unless he went with her. "Its not as large as it looks but you're one of the most creative people I've ever met. You'll make it work." The floor and walls were made of metal that gave off dull reflections. The ceiling was high with lights recessed so deeply they produced more shadows than illumination. His hope was that the whole area was a blank page for her to fill with whatever she needed to set her free.

"You changed our clothes." She realized her cheek was pressed against the soft material of his gray button down. They were wearing slacks, his navy and hers black . She looked down and caught a flash of deep red from her long-sleeved tee and could feel the slim fit of her knit pullover charcoal vest.

"No, you must have. It isn't necessary when you're only dealing with projections. They see whatever your subconscious tells them to. Remember when I showed you the memory of leaving my children without saying good-bye or seeing their faces one last time?"

"Yeah, on that elevator ride through hell."

"My projection of the attorney from the military didn't notice anything different about me standing there almost three years later and he didn't see you at all." Cobb looked around, hoping the room would change or a projection would show up. Anything that would give them a clue of what they were looking for. "Now all we have to do is wait and see where you take us."

"It doesn't seem as if I'm taking us anywhere." She looked up at him, her eyes large and filled with uncertainty.

"Give it some time." Dom turned her, until her back was flush with his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Now, just lean back against me and relax." His voice was warm and rich, flowing over her in gentle waves. "We've got all the time you need."

Ariadne let him take her weight and enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by him. She knew if she turned her head she'd hear his heartbeat under her ear. Instead she looked into the distance wondering what long buried truth was going to come at her out of the dark.

"This isn't working," she sobbed in frustration and clung to his arms where they were folded beneath her breasts.

"Don't try so hard." He tucked her hands under his, keeping her wrapped up tight.

"Okay, okay, I can do this." She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind but all she could see was fog filled with creeping anxiety, intensified by the loud, slow tick of a watch.

"I can't. I'm sorry." She shivered.

"All right, you're doing great." He ran his face against her neck, holding her tightly against him. "You need to get more sleep that's all. We'll try again tomorrow night, when you're better rested." He guided her to the door in the back corner that had been hidden by the shadows. "In we go." Cobb turned the knob and they were once again in the stone cottage in the Loire Valley, dressed in the clothes they'd worn to bed in the guest bedroom of Miles and Sabine's house.

"The window is blue." Ariadne pointed high above her head. Dom had changed the glass from clear to deep blue.

"That's how we know which level we're on." He pulled back the bed covers without letting go of the secure hold he had on her arm. "In you go," he instructed.

"Didn't we already do this once tonight?" She tried to relax as his body curled against hers, having him close felt good and forbidden at the same time.

"Yeah, but this time we're alone."

"That isn't really any help." She buried her face against his arm and tried to block his scent and feel from her mind.

"Easy there, Ariadne," Dom spoke softly as he ran his hand up and down her back, trying to relax straining muscles. "Remember that sensations, like pain, touch, and pleasure are real, whether awake or asleep, because they're perceived in the brain. But the actions that produce them in a dream are fake. They mean nothing."

"Why are you telling me this?" She turned slowly so she was lying on her left side with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.

"Because no matter how much we may both want it, we aren't going to take up where we left off in the warehouse this afternoon." He tilted her chin upward so he could look her in the eyes. "It could happen so easily and be very enjoyable but it wouldn't be real. I've had enough fake to last me two lifetimes. I won't start out that way with you. We deserve better. We deserve to know that any feelings we have are concrete, not leftover emotions from half remembered dreams."

"How do you know these things? You told me that you weren't being...a...being...intima-" She flushed wanting to pull back the words.

"Being intimate with my dead wife, during all those afterhours dream sessions?" His brow rose in question as she nodded.

"Ah...yeah."

"I wasn't." He pushed Ariadne's hair back to see her face completely. "After she died I was tempted. It would have been easy to slip into a dream and have her alive again, alive and well. But it wouldn't have been real. I knew I had to work through my loss. My children were more important to me than any fantasy. Then I was on the run, hiding, all the time wanting to get home. I knew if I let myself be enticed into her dream world, I'd be lost forever. That's what gave me the strength to turn my back on Mal whenever she showed up during an extraction, whenever I tried to plead with her to set me free."

"I'm sorry, I had no right asking," she whispered.

"Don't ever be sorry for asking me anything." He ran his fingers over her cheek. "Mal and I were married for a number of years before she died. We did a lot of things in dreams that we shouldn't have. Dream sex is seductive like you can't imagine and the aftereffects vibrate through your life until lies become truths and the line between what is genuine and what isn't becomes too blurred to matter anymore."

"How did you stay sane?"

"I'm not so sure I was, until you came along." He smiled and held her closer. "Now it's time for you to get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," she sighed.

"Sure you are, Tiger. Stop fighting what your body needs and go to sleep." Dom wrapped his hand around the back of neck and slowly began to massage, letting his fingers wander into her hair and behind her ears.

"Ohhh, that's nice." She smiled and nestled closer against him. "Talk to me. I just want to hear your voice."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything..."

At a loss, he thought for a moment then remembered a poem from he'd read to his children for years. _"The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea; In a beautiful pea-green boat: They took some honey and plenty of money; Wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar..."_

Her ear was against his chest and though she couldn't make out the words, her eyes grew heavy, her breathing smoothed out and she fell asleep to a deep rumble that ran through her, caressing every nerve ending.

* * *

Sometime during the night, Ariadne woke to the sound of a door closing. She reached for her totem and felt its reassuring weight through her shirt pocket.

"That was Miles leaving. Go back to sleep." Dom muttered from inches away.

Ari's eyes fluttered open and she was struck by how young he looked half asleep, with his hair falling over his forehead and his skin smooth, not a frown or scowl in sight. But it was the stubble on his chin that drew her attention. She ran her thumb gently over dark blonde whiskers.

"I thought I told her yesterday, no messing with the beard." He grinned without opening his eyes. He simply took her hand and pressed it against his face.

"No, you didn't. You said no insulting the whiskers. I only wanted to touch-" she stuttered to a halt when she realized there was a large broad hand cupping the small of her back and it had been there for quit awhile. "Dom?"

"Hush, I guess some things just come naturally," he whispered and strummed his fingers over her smooth skin just once before pulling his hand out from under her tank and shirt. "Now, go back to sleep. We've got hours before morning." Cobb pulled her close and buried his fingers in her hair. He never opened his eyes or checked his totem, sure exactly where he was and who he was with because she smelled like lime, basil and mandarin.

**TBC**


	12. Ch 11: The Undiscovered Country Pt IV

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG-13+ but only for one tiny place

**Beta: **By Vashti. She did a great job. Any errors that are still here are mine.

* * *

_**Ch. 11 – The Undiscovered Country – Part IV**_

_**By Lattelady**_

_**

* * *

**_

Ariadne woke feeling disoriented, and fighting disappointment. They'd done it, gone a level deeper. She should have made progress, found some clue to what was buried in her psyche. But all they'd ended up doing was sleeping. Before she could be overwhelmed by doubts, she reached for her bishop. It's weight and feel assured her she wasn't dreaming, but didn't do anything to improve her spirits.

"You all right?" Cobb's sleep-roughened voice rumbled against her ear. Sometime during the night they'd turned over and moved back to the way they'd begun the evening. They were both laying on their right side, with his body tucked protectively around hers.

"Just checking." She patted her pocket and shifted onto her back, unprepared for the giddy sensation in her stomach when it rubbed against the arm he still had around her.

"You didn't answer my question." He rose onto his elbow to stare down at her, while still keeping her pinned.

"Look, I've never really been a morning person." It was one version of the truth**,** but she could tell by the way his mouth tightened that he wasn't going to be diverted. "I'm...I don't know. I..." Ari tried to put her feelings into words**.** "I feel kinda sluggish. It's like a hangover without the nausea and no alcohol the night before. God, what I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee."

"You're hitting all the foods that Sabine has black-listed for us. First alcohol and now coffee." He chuckled. "You have no idea what we're giving up. Sabine's coffee is amazing and Miles' cellar is first rate."

"Can it, Cobb. You don't have to rub it in. I already knew those things were on my no-fly list long before you popped back into my life. Remember the herb tea in the cafe that first day?"

"Yeah, that's what gave you away. If you don't count the dark shadows under your eyes and the haunted expression on your face." He ran one finger over her cheekbones and up into her brows, enjoying the early morning conversation. It was an intimacy he'd missed without knowing it.

"The Professor was right when he said you were the most talented architectural student he's ever had. You did an amazing job last night." She wrapped her hand around his to keep him from further exploration. It was something she could easily get used to.

"Hmm, that's odd, he told me that you were better than I ever was." Cobb smiled at her gesture and her surprised look.

"That's nice of him but after what I saw on that second level, I'd have to say he's wrong." Ari really liked the Professor. He'd been very supportive the last three years, but she knew extraordinary talent when she saw it. "The simplicity of only changing the color of the window was a perfect way to keep the cottage familiar enough that it was reassuring, but different enough to mark it as a unique place. And that empty room was nothing short of art. I should...I should... Damn."She stuttered to a halt and rubbed her eyes as she fought an all-consuming feeling of disappointment and failure. "I should have been able to find the answers there."

"Ariadne." He tucked his hand between her slim waist and the mattress to pull her on her side, facing him. "It isn't about _shoulds_ or _coulds_. It's about what is."

"But you're the man who taught me that they didn't exist." There was a hint of desperation in her voice that she couldn't hide.

"No, I tried to teach you that they didn't _have_ to exist. The hard part is knowing the difference. That's why you have a totem." It was a lesson he hadn't been able to teach Mal, and he was damned if he'd be that careless with Ariadne.

"I hate doing this." Ari gave up and rested her forehead against his shoulder.

"I know sweetheart, I know you do." Dom held her tightly, throwing his left leg over her to keep her snug and safe. He was past caring that they were alone in bed and his experience far outweighed hers. His body had a mind of its own where she was concerned.

"Do you really?" She looked up, needing to be sure he understood. "When we landed at LAX and I looked into Saito eyes and saw the same loss and pain I'd seen in yours when we first met, I knew how really damaging shared dreaming could be. It didn't matter that it gave a whole new meaning to creating. It wasn't worth the price. That's why I changed my thesis project. I wanted...I needed to see if I could capture some of that limitless imagination and control it enough to fit in the real world."

"You did all that and more. Miles showed me your model. It's impressive."

"Thanks. But it was something I had to do for me. I refused to have my best work done in a dream. There has to be more to me than that." What she thought of her designs was what counted most but to have him validate them ran a close second.

"Stubborn and proud, I admired those qualities in you from the beginning." He'd seen from the crackle of temper in her eyes, when she'd defiantly flipped over his notepad to draw a maze on blank cardboard, instead of allowing herself to be distracted by the lines on his notebook, that Ariadne Bishop wasn't a follower but a trail blazer. At the time he'd believed the quickening in his blood had been excitement at being one step closer to home. He knew, now, that it had been honest to God desire.

"Dom," she sighed. "I'm not sure how many more nights I can do this." She clung to him, needing to tell him the truth and needing one more thing, an assurance that she wouldn't get lost, as he and Mal had, and as Saito had. "What color is the window in the cottage on the third level, the one for tonight?"

"I'm not going to tell you. You'll only find out if we end up there." He tipped her head back and looked into her serious eyes. "Just remember that if we do, it's because you need to. Either we've got to go deeper to unlock what's hiding from you or you need more sleep to deal with what we find when we get there, maybe both. Whatever the reason, you won't be alone." He looked carefully, trying to see beyond her guarded expression. "You on board for that?"

"I don't really have a choice." She sighed and absentmindedly ran her thumbnail through his chin stubble. Having him close helped push away the empty, disoriented feeling that clutched at her heart and made it hard to think or breathe, a feeling that had been growing since she woke that morning.

"You always have a choice," he warned sternly.

"No, not if I want to find my way out of this mess." The thought of ending up like Mal, a shade of a woman lost in real life and only alive in dreams, frightened Ari more than another night of cottages with colored windows that changed and a large empty room that she was sure held the accumulation of twenty-three years of hidden secrets. Just thinking about it made her dig into Cobb's tee shirt and hold on for dear life.

"I'm right here," he reassured. "I'm not going anywhere." He ran his thumb along her temple and was about to kiss her brow when he realized what he was doing. "Ariadne, this isn't wise," his voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, coated with desire.

"You're right. Just, just give me a minute to get my balance back." Even as she asked, she shifted away from him. His arms were still around her and her forehead rested against his neck but they didn't touch anywhere else.

Moments later Ari sighed and rolled to a sitting position, scrambling off the foot of the bed and headed for the door. "Sorry, Cobb, that won't happen again." She never looked back, just went into the hall and closed the door softly behind her.

She didn't see Dominic Cobb roll over and bury his face in her pillow nor did she hear him moan her name in frustration and worry. It was apparent that Ariadne was more frightened of what they would find while dreaming than she was of letting him get close to her.

* * *

Cobb shuffled into the kitchen after washing his face and using a spare toothbrush in the children's bathroom. By the time he'd gotten out of bed, he heard the shower running in the one he shared with Ari.

"Good morning, Dominic," Sabine called out cheerfully.

"Where are James and Phillipa?" He'd looked in their room and the playroom but there was no sign of them.

"Miles took them out for croissants and hot chocolate. They were very excited." She went to the refrigerator to get eggs, cheese, and vegetables for omelets.

"You don't have to cook for me." Cobb frowned. "I can make my own food."

"Ah, yes, and I have seen what you eat for breakfast." His mother-in-law's French accent became more pronounced as she spoke faster. "Ari deserves better than that...that cold cereal that goes pop, pop, puff, puff and so do you. While you are in my house..." Her words trailed off when she took a good look at him. "Dominic, what is wrong? What has happened? Miles, the children?" her voice shook with worry and she reached for her cell phone.

"They're fine, Sabine, remember you told me so moments ago. They went out for breakfast." He wrapped his arms around the older woman. Since Mal's death, the smallest thing sent her scurrying to check on her family. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, I am the one who is sorry. After what happened, I cling too tightly to those I love."

"That's not such a bad thing." He handed her tissue to wipe her eyes, pretending it was nothing out of the ordinary for her to break down while discussing breakfast.

"No, I suppose it is not," she sighed and poured coffee into two cups. "Now tell me what is bothering you."

"It's Ariadne." He paused to check to be sure the older woman really was all right. When he was satisfied he continued, "She's getting depressed."

"She was depressed when she arrived." Sabine put half-a-cup of coffee in front of her son-in-law and sat at the table with him.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to have caffeine?"

"It is a small amount for medicinal purpose only. But you cannot tell, Ariadne. She sniffs around my kitchen, her eyes glued to the coffee press. It breaks my heart to shoo her off with only tea." She watched the man across from her. He remained silent, face devoid of emotion but his stormy eyes told another story.

"Please, tell me what is bothering you. I can help. It is what I do." Sabine covered his hand with hers, as much to comfort as to get his attention. "Ahhh, I see." She smiled gently. "You are not comfortable talking about this with your mother-in-law. Then you should talk to the therapist, Mme. Benoit-Elkins. I will even send you a bill if it makes you feel better."

"Ari hates shared dreaming," his voice was low and quiet as he chose his words carefully. "And I believe the whole process we're putting her through is adding unnecessary pressure."

"That is to be expected." She nodded, understanding what he wasn't comfortable saying. "It is much easier to sleep beside a person when one does not care, but once emotions and hormones get involved-"

"Sabine!" he cut her off, choking on his coffee.

"Na, na, Monsieur Cobb. It is Mme. Benoit-Elkins when we are in session." She sipped her coffee and continued, ignoring his shocked outburst. "I have seen the way your eyes follow her when she isn't looking and she looks at you the same way. You have mourned for almost three years. It is time you remembered you are a man as well as a father."

"How can you possibly approve?"

"I know there is no right or wrong where feelings are concerned. It is what one does with them that is important. Unfortunately, you carry around your guilt for Mal and it keeps you from remembering this. It keeps your life incomplete."

"I'm not doing as badly as I was," he whispered almost to himself.

"You should be doing much better than you are. You did not kill her, it was the dreaming that did that." Her voice was filled with sorrow edged with determination. "Miles and I could not have chosen a personality less suited for the rigors of shared dreams than our daughter's. But at the time, we did not understand the damage that could be done to a fragile psyche."

"What are you talking about?"

"Very simply, my darling Mal had a marvelous imagination and used it to change the parameters of her world. As a child that is acceptable and often expected, but as an adult it confuses issues and makes life difficult. She came up with the idea of the totem to guide her in dreams but, as dreaming became more seductive than the real world, often didn't use it. Eventually it became easier to live in a place where there were no problems to overcome or no real issues that could not be bent or changed at her will. But I believe that doing so for an extended period made her unable to cope. A human needs challenges to survive."

"That makes no sense," Cobb protested. He was beginning to wonder how well he knew the woman he'd married. Could she really have changed so much and he not notice? Had years of dreaming blinded him to what was going on in the real world?"

"Of course it does. Dominic, she loved you and the children dearly, but in the real world living with others means compromise. It means admitting that two people can be a couple but they cannot truly be one entity. I believe it is why she did what she did to you, a last bid to force you to follow her, to be one with her." Sabine folded her hands and gazed over his shoulder, looking deep into the past. "I only wish I had understood these things before it was too late to save my child. When I was staying in your house, caring for James and Phillipa, I went over all of Mal's journals, including some she had hidden away. But it wasn't until I returned to Paris that I understood what I had read."

"That's not what happened, I-" In the face of his mother-in-law's sorrow, Dom knew he could never admit his part in his wife's death.

"You what? You think you did something that caused her to end her life?" Sabine looked at him with sad old eyes. "Whatever it is, you must leave it in the past. The seeds of her destruction were sown the first time she entered into shared dreaming. Whatever you blame yourself for is at most a tiny part of the whole, if it exists at all.

"Now, to the matter at hand, is it that has you so worried, the part that you did not wish to share with your mother-in-law but can speak about openly with Mme. Benoit-Elkins?"

"Ariadne is strong. When we worked together seven months ago, nothing got past her. If she thought something needed fixing, she pushed me until I dealt with it. On a personal level she uses her strength and determination to keep people at a distance. But somehow-"

"Somehow she let you in?" Sabine patted his hand on the table between them. "I have seen it since the first moment I met her. I have also seen that you have allowed her to get close to you."

"I guess." He wanted to deny it, but there was mother-in-law already knew the truth. "Ariadne fights it tooth and nail but this morning she felt lost and defeated that we didn't make more progress last night. She let me…ah…she needed someone to hold onto."

"And that someone was you?" She smiled when Dominic nodded and hid behind his coffee cup. "Do you know why she keeps people at a distance?"

"No, she doesn't talk about her past. Even sleep deprived, she's stubborn."

"If necessary you must be more stubborn. But first I suggest the two of you take the afternoon off. Go for a walk along the river as you planned yesterday. Do not push or dig, just be two young people enjoying a sunny spring day in Paris. It will do both of you good and maybe, just maybe, it will allow her to open up. If she does not make progress tonight then tomorrow afternoon you must prod her to speak of things she would rather not."

...

That afternoon they took Sabine's advice and walked along The Seine.

"This is nice," Ariadne sighed and sniffed the air, her head back and her eyes closed, enjoying the sun on her face.

"Yeah, it is." Cobb reached for her hand. His original intent was to keep her beside him but as their skin touched, Dom's fingers intertwined with hers and he didn't let go.

"That's kinda nice too."The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

"I thought you weren't going to let me in?" He squeezed her fingers gently.

Ari stopped and looked up at him, her brows scrunched in doubt, as other people surged around them. It would be so easy to lean into him and let his touch drive away her empty lost feelings, but it wouldn't be fair to either of them. "Dom, don't."Her voice was tinged with defeat.

"I told you I'd give you all the space you needed until you've got yourself put back together." He was deadly serious as he met her gaze head on. "But one of these days I won't bother to be a gentleman," he warned.

"I'm not afraid of you." And as she said it, she realized she wasn't.

"Good," he whispered and stroked her lower lip with the pad of his thumb. "Because you never have to be."

* * *

That night Ariadne got into Cobb's bed as if it was the most natural thing in the world. If he felt her stiffen slightly as he pulled her against him, she refused to let it matter.

Miles warned them that he was reducing their sleep time another minute. In the bedroom in Paris they would sleep for three minutes. In the cottage with the clear window they would have thirty-six minutes, the one with the blue window there would be seventy-two minutes and they'd spend two hours and twenty-four minutes on the third level.

After going to sleep in the Loire Valley bed on the first level, they found themselves in the cottage with the blue window. Dom again held securely to Ari, as they got into bed and set up their equipment. He held her close and tight as he pushed the button that would take them one level deeper into her subconscious.

One instant they felt the sleep compound filling their veins and the next they were in a reproduction of the same empty room Cobb had created before. It was filled with nothing but shadows and dim light and two people wearing the clothes Ariadne had, again, changed them into.

"At lease I'm consistent," she sighed, after getting a good look around and checking out their clothes.

"Relax. Whatever happens we'll handle it." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. Cobb could feel her tension mounting with each slow second that passed.

He checked his watch and they'd been there for almost ten minutes. That was twice as long as Miles had instructed them to wait. "Okay, Tiger, that's it for tonight."

"Please, can't we try a few more minutes?" She leaned back against his chest and tipped her head upward.

"It's not a good idea, Sweetheart. Pushing yourself isn't going to help."

"This is getting hard on my ego." Ari tried to shrug off a feeling of failure. "I'm used to getting it right the first time or at least learning from my mistakes."

"This has nothing to do with mistakes. You've got months of sleep to make up for. Give yourself a break and take each night as it comes." Cobb opened the door that led to the cottage and they stepped through. Again their clothes changed into the ones they'd worn to bed in Miles and Sabine's home.

"I should have guessed it would be red." Ariadne looked up at the round deep crimson window high on the wall, as they got into bed. "You're going through all the primary colors first, aren't you?"

"Nope, I'd never make a yellow window. I'm just having fun playing with the effects of different colored glass." He pulled the quilt over them and tucked her against him. "It's time to get some sleep."

"Dom." She relaxed against the warm curve of his body. "Thank you for doing this. You and your children could be off to the Greek Islands by now but you're here instead."

"Your welcome, Ariadne but you shouldn't be thanking me. You wouldn't be in this predicament if it weren't for me."

"Despite all the months with almost no sleep and all that came before, I wouldn't trade any of it." She turned over, so her head was on his shoulder and she could see his face. "I'm glad you chose me to be your architect."

"I'm glad I chose you too." He gently ran his hand up and down her back, digging his fingers into tight muscles along the way. "Now sleep, just sleep."

"Hmmm," she murmured. He felt her nod in response as her eyes slipped closed and she melted against him.

* * *

The next morning Cobb woke first. He checked his totem and relaxed as the sand grains ran through the tiny hourglass. He wasn't still caught in a dream, Ariadne was really asleep beside him. He knew she was going to be disappointed when she woke but right now she was warm and peaceful, sprawled across his chest with her head tucked against his neck.

Mornings were a difficult pleasure for Dom. He enjoyed Ariadne's quiet presence beside him but it tested his restraint. He wanted to make love to her in the morning light, to see sleep-filled brown eyes darken with passion, and flare with desire as he slowly removed her clothes, touching and exploring her body as he went. He wanted to feel her hands move over him in response, coaxing him to teach her what brought him joy. He wanted to hear her gasp in surprise when he entered her and feel her tight warmth around him.

Cobb froze when he felt her begin to stir. His mind had been taking him places Ariadne wasn't ready to follow, yet. He closed his eyes and took deep even breaths, as if he were asleep, ignoring his hand that had slipped under her shirt sometime while they slept, resting warm against her back. He felt her waken slowly and untangle her body from his.

"Dom, I'm sorry," she whispered to herself as she carefully unwrapped his hand from where it was caught in the shirt he'd loaned her. He felt a petal soft brush of lips on his cheek and the movement of the mattress as she leaned closer and gave him an almost kiss. Seconds later she was off the bottom of the bed and the bedroom door was closed behind her.

* * *

"Daddy, aren't you and RE coming with us." Phillipa watched with serious blue-gray eyes as he and Sabine filled two picnic baskets.

"R.E.?" He smiled at his daughter's attempt to pronounce Ariadne's nickname.

"Yeah, it's what Miss Bishop told me and James to call her." Phillipa glared at her father. "But you didn't answer my question. Are you guys coming with us?"

"Sorry, Peanut, but you and your brother are going with grandma and grandpa to that picnic spot you like so much in the Latin Quarter. I'm taking Ariadne out of the city. As much as she loves Paris, a drive in the country would do her good."

"Are you coming back?" The little girl threw her body against her father's leg and held on tightly. "Are you and RE coming back?" she sniffed. She knew something was wrong, something only adults understood. It was like when her mommy went away. They thought she was too young to remember but she did.

"Of course we are, Sweetie." Dom picked up his daughter and hugged her with arms that shook. She was breaking his heart. A child psychologist in LA had assured him, and his mother-in-law had agreed, that his children had to relearn separation. His eyes sought Sabine's for support. Theory was much easier on Cobb than actually doing. "Ariadne and I were gone for a few hours the last two afternoons and I came back both times. This won't be any different."

"But what if you disappear again?" Phillipa's lower lip trembled. "Like you did before." She didn't mention her mom who was never coming back, because she finally understood that mommy was with God. Nothing else would have kept her away.

"Oh, baby doll," Cobb gasped and held her tighter. "I-"

"When your father was gone for so long, he was working." Sabine cut in and gently stroked her granddaughter's back. "But he is doing things differently now. He brought you and James with him to Paris and he is taking you with him to his job on Hera, remember. You will live there for almost a year. Grandpa and I will miss you very much but your father has to go where his work is."

"You could come for a visit." Phillipa suggested, never letting go of her hold on her dad.

"What a splendid idea. We would love to do that." Sabine beamed at her. "We can go on picnics there, too, some while your father is busy at his computer or drafting board and some when he is free to join us."

"Daddy, I guess it's okay if you and RE go on your own picnic." She kept her arms wrapped around his neck. His hugs always made her feel better. "Just as long as you come back."

"Nothing could keep me away. You guys are stuck with me for life." He snuggled his daughter, never wanting to let go. "These afternoons I spend with Ariadne are like when you go to Carolyn's or Jane's. You always come back from those."

"You're going on a play date with RE?" The child giggled at the idea.

"He sure is but I don't play Shoots and Ladders with anyone but you." Ariadne walked into the kitchen and tickled Phillipa's neck. Her large worried brown eyes sought out Cobb's blue ones. It was evident Ari had heard most of what had upset the little girl.

"Phillipa, why don't you come with me. We can dance in the playroom like we did this morning. James and your grandpa are in there, maybe we can convince them to join us." Ari took the child from Dom's arms. "We'll let your daddy and grandma finish up here." She nodded to Sabine to take care of Cobb, who was looking white and drawn around the mouth, leaning his weight on the kitchen island.

"You think we can get grandpa to dance to your music?" the little girl asked as she scrambled down from Ariadne's arms.

"We can ask him." Ari laughed at the idea of the Professor moving to the beat of Nickelback.

"What you were listening to this morning, is not music," Sabine called after them.

"Sorry, we'll keep it down." The young woman nibbled her lip at Cobb's taut shoulders and clenched fists. Ari knew she was causing him pain and didn't understand why they were going on two separate picnics if it upset the children. "I seem to have lost my taste for French Blues."

"I quite understand, Ariadne." Sabine Elkins was very familiar with the music used to synchronize a kick in dream sharing. "We will finish up in here." She nodded toward the silent man in her kitchen, to reassure Ari that Dominic would be taken care of. "You need not worry."

"Wait a second, RE." Phillipa stopped in her dash for the hall and ran back to her father. "I love you, Daddy," she whispered and hugged him one more time.

"I love you too, Peanut." He kissed the top of her head and let her go back to Ariadne.

Once they were alone, Sabine turned to her son-in-law. "Dominic, you did the right thing." She rubbed his shoulders while he buried his face in his hands.

"They're my children, how can I do this to them?" he gasped. "It's like I'm putting them second."

"This is harder on you than it is on them, my dear." She had her arm around him, trying to make him understand. "You are rebuilding the trust they lost when you were gone for so long. Each time you leave and return, as promised, you are proving yourself. To have given in and stayed with us would have done more harm than good."

"You don't understand," his words were rough with pain. "When I first came home, they were afraid to let me out of their sight for longer than a few minutes. They're getting better. They'll play in the yard or the playroom while I work in the study or fix dinner. But one or both of them will just appear. They don't want anything, I think they're checking to be sure that I'm still there."

"That is normal behavior. They are smart, brave children and they know that you love them. It will take time and patience to reassure them but you are doing all the right things. Now, it is time we finished packing these picnic baskets."

**TBC**


	13. Ch 12: The Undiscovered Country Pt V

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG-13+. If anyone thinks I need to up the rating let me know.

**Beta: **By Vashti. She did a great job. Any errors that are still here are mine.

**Notes: **I have surgery on my left hand tomorrow. Between that and the holidays the next chapter may be a few weeks out. It's half written and roughed out further than that. Since I had surgery on my right hand in October, and it isn't as strong as I'd like it to be I'll have to see how much typing I can get done.

**Enjoy and Happy Holidays**

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* * *

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_Ch. 12 – The Undiscovered Country – Part V_

_By Lattelady_

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* * *

_

"Dom, put this in your basket." Sabine handed him a one-cup Thermos of coffee. "Ariadne only gets a small amount and no later than two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Medicinal purposes, right?" He remembered how the simple social process of drinking coffee together had smoothed the way for Sabine to gain access to information he'd been keeping from her. "You think it'll be necessary?"

"The coffee is for both of you." She was back in therapist mode and Cobb found it comforting. "You will have to ask the difficult questions and not let her avoid the answers."

"This seems to be my day for tough love." He shook off tension that had been building all morning and kept right on working.

"It will not be easy on either of you." His mother-in-law watched him carefully as he closed the picnic basket he and Ari would be taking with them.

"This morning wasn't easy but I got through it," he sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Phillipa caught me off guard, though I'm glad she's finally talking about her fears. I've known for months that she was having problems. All I could do was try and show her I loved her and reinforce it with words."

"You have done admirably, Dominic, but Ariadne is not a child. She will not be as easy to deal with," Sabine warned. "You cannot simply pick her up and calm her the way you did your daughter."

"I'll sit on her if I have to keep her in one spot long enough to make her listen."

"I believe you would." Sabine smiled at her son-in-law's determination. "But listening to your words is only the beginning. She must talk to you as well."

"If I can get her to listen, she'll tell me what she knows." He was counting heavily on Ariadne's strong belief in honesty.

"If she knew what was at the core of her problems, she would have dealt with it on her own instead of getting worse and worse as the months went by," Sabine theorized. "She was a member of your last team. All of you shared dreams-within-dreams, using a complex mix of strong sedatives. I believe that somewhere, on one of the lower levels, Ari unwittingly bumped into something that was buried deep in her subconscious. Somewhere in that dreaming session she woke one of her sleeping monsters. With luck, this afternoon you can get her to poke at it so it will come after her when you dream tonight."

"How the hell am I going to get her to do that?" Cobb leaned both arms on the center island and looked across at his mother-in-law.

"I would suggest through strong emotion. Ari's are very close to the surface today. I could see anger, hurt and worry shining from her eyes while you dealt with Phillipa's fears."

"You basically want me to break her?" He ran a hand through his hair, unsure if he could hurt her like that, even if it meant helping her.

"Can you do it?" Sabine knew she was asking a lot of him. "I would do it, myself, but it could take years of talk therapy to accomplish what you could do in one afternoon."

"You don't leave me much choice, but do me a favor. Can we save James for another day? If he goes off the rails, too, I'm gonna need something a whole lot stronger than coffee."

"I believe you're safe on that one." She patted his hand in reassurance. "Jamie was eighteen months old when Mal died and not even two when you left. That is old enough to know that something was terribly wrong but not old enough to be able to understand what was upsetting his world. James follows his sister's lead when he is unsure and she takes her responsibility seriously."

"That isn't Phillipa's job. I want her to hold onto what is left of her childhood for as long as she can." He knew that a lot of it had been lost when Mal had committed suicide.

"Most of your children's interactions are ordinary ones between an older sister and a younger brother. It is a good thing and comfortable for both of them. Though it bears watching."

"It was always James who asked if mommy was with me when we talked while I was away." Cobb closed his eyes remembering the jagged mix of pain and joy those calls caused.

"I know. I was there. Death wasn't a concept he understood," Sabine choked. "Dominic, I am sorry for the way I treated you." Tears glistened in her eyes at the memory of that horrible time spent in America, when she'd been unable to face her daughter's suicide. "Please know that no matter how hateful I was toward you and my darling Miles, I never did or said anything to undermine you with the children. I tried to prepare them for the possibility that you would be unable to return, not to cause you pain, but to protect them."

"I know, Sabine, I know." He held her as she cried. "If I had been in your place, dealing with my grandchildren, I doubt I would have acted differently. I'm amazed at your generosity toward me and toward Ariadne. I don't think I would have it in me."

"You are family. The only child I have left, and Ari?"She laughed softly and gave him a gentle hug before moving away to wipe her eyes. "What is not to like? When you were having your alone time with your son at the park, she painted Phillipa's toenails and had a tea party with her in Mal's old tree house. Yesterday when you were having your father-daughter lunch, she helped James lay out his Brio train track from the playroom, down the hall, and into the dining room. Then the two of them ate lunch under the table where they were building a town using blocks and an old set of pots and pans"

"But..."

"No buts." Sabine held up her hand to keep him from interrupting. "What do you hear coming from in the playroom, now?"

Cobb listened carefully and a tremor ran through his body at the sounds of his daughter's high-pitched chortle interspersed with music and whoops of joy coming from his son. "They're laughing." They usually only giggled like that when he swung them high over his head and gave them tickling kisses with his whiskers.

"Yes, and it isn't only the children whom she makes happy. She has that effect on all of us, especially you. She brings happiness to a home that has been in darkness for too long."

"Yeah, and I'm going to reward her for all the care she's given my family by ripping her apart today." He glared into the distance, uncomfortable with what lay ahead.

"It is necessary so she can get her laughter back, so her life can move forward." Sabine squeezed his hand reassuringly. "From things you've said and things she refuses to talk about, I get the feeling she performed the same service for you seven months ago. She is strong, but you will need to be stronger."

* * *

That afternoon Dom and Ariadne used the Professor's little red sports car. They drove to a summer home that belonged to one of Sabine's friends. It was an old estate with chestnut trees and well tended gardens. The property was surrounded by tall stonewalls that were hedged with lilac bushes and wisteria about to bloom. The grounds in the back sloped to a small river that meandered into deep old forests. It was a peaceful spot that was unoccupied at this time of year except for the groundskeeper who was leaving for the day.

Dom and Ari had spread out a blanket in the shade of an old beech tree. The day was sunny with a gentle breeze. The scent of spring was in the air.

"You're not eating." Cobb looked pointedly at the food Ariadne was pushing around her plate.

"Not hungry," she shrugged. "Why are we doing this? You should be with your children." Defiance glittered in her eyes when she finally said what had been bothering her since she'd taken Phillipa from his arms. The little girl had been giggling but her lips trembled and her face was still damp from recent tears.

"If you think this morning was easy on me, you're dead wrong." He glared unsure if her question was about him or her.

"But you left them," she gasped. "First they lose their mother and you disappear, now just as they are getting their feet back on the ground you...we...you shouldn't be doing this for me. Your children are more important."

"Yes, I left them after Mal died, but if I hadn't their father would have gone on trial and been sent to prison for killing their mother." His words were flinty and filled with dark emotions. "I think, given my options, the choice I made left them with fewer emotional scars."

"But what about now? You and your little family should be at home or off to the Greek Islands, not wasting your time here in Paris."

"That's bullshit and you know it." He grasped her upper arms and pulled her closer. "James and Phillipa need to learn to trust that separation doesn't mean forever, and you need to learn that what we are doing here isn't a waste of time for any of us."

"No, no, you're wrong." Anger gave her extra strength as she pulled out of his grip. "It isn't like that. Children need-" She stopped suddenly as panic wound itself around her throat, making it impossible to speak.

"Children need what?" He leaned against the rough bark of the old tree, letting his dark frown add weight to a question that was like ground glass against her already frayed nerves. He'd hit a wall that needed knocking down, but she had to be the one to do it.

"I...I...don't know." Air whistled with each word as she mentally distanced herself from the issue.

"Come on, Ariadne, you're the woman with all the questions and all the answers, at least you were when you were prying into my life. It's a bit tougher when the tables are turned, but I never thought I'd see the day when you were a coward." Each word was a carefully aimed dart and she quivered as they hit their mark.

"A coward?" she gasped. "How dare you!" The air vibrated between them.

"I call 'em like I see 'em." He never took his eyes off her, calculating the exact moment the dam would burst, sweeping away her caution and setting free the words she guarded so carefully. He hoped this was what Sabine had meant by using emotions to get Ari to dig deeper.

"You're not seeing very clearly." She shook with anger and blinked quickly to keep her eyes from filling with tears. "I've done everything you and Miles wanted me to." Her voice caught and she took a deep breath to maintain some semblance of control. "Every night I've been terrified of what I'll find as we moved deeper into my mind. Every night I've gotten into bed beside you. Do you have the slightest clue how difficult that's been for me?"

"Ari-" he straightened, trying to interrupt her.

"Shut-up. I'm not through," she shouted. "Every morning I wake up wanting you and you...you tease and prod to keep me moving downward but could care less. Gotta hand it to you, Cobb, you know how to stay focused. I noticed that the first time around, anything to get the job done, no matter what.

"I'm not a coward you son-of-a-bitch." She surged to her feet. Tears were running down her face unheeded. "Take your children and get the hell out of my life. Just remember that those kids come first. Your love for them was what drove you seven months ago. They were the reason behind that whole elaborate inception." Her voice hitched and she stumbled over her words. "Now that you're home it shouldn't be any different. Love them...don't ever leave them alone again. It's the worst thing you could do to them."

Ariadne turned quickly and ran toward the shadows of the old forest. She hadn't taken more than two steps when strong arms grabbed her from behind, lifting her off her feet. "Let me go, damnit." She kicked and tried to scratch him but he was too quick for her.

"Stop it. I'm a hell of a lot bigger and stronger than you are," he warned.

"Go to hell."

"You forget I've been there and have no plans for a return trip, nor of letting you live any longer than necessary in the one you've constructed." In seconds she was pinned beneath him on the ground. He could feel her fury and sorrow aimed directly at him. "Will you calm down and listen to me or do I have to make you?" He leaned into her, keeping her trapped and immobile.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, spent and unable to look at him.

"Because that's one hell of an emotional wall back you've got there and I want to know what's on the other side."

"That's crazy. You're just angry because I said you were wrong to send your children off with Miles and Sabine."

"Nope, try again." He was deliberately cocky, pricking at her temper. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing." She bucked but he remained solidly in place. "Nothing that's any of your business."

"It's not good enough." He knew she was fighting with everything she had to keep from cracking. He needed to push her emotional buttons and not let up. "What happened to the woman who had the guts to jump into limbo to help me get Robert Fischer back? She always told me the truth, exactly when I needed it." Cobb straddled her hips and kept her wrists pinned while he leaned over and whispered, "She wouldn't have lost the courage to speak in the middle of a sentence." He deliberately grazed her neck with his stubble-covered chin, adding desire to her already overloaded emotions.

"Nooooo," she cried out feeling as if she was being ripped inside out. "It doesn't have anything to do with what is going on right now," she gasped.

"Let me be the judge of that. Tell me why you're so upset about what happened with Phillipa, why you're so sure that the children should have come with us?"

"Because children need their parents." Her words came out quick and sharp, catching them both off guard. "I know because mine died when I was fourteen and I still needed them."

"Ariadne," Cobb whispered, caught totally by surprise. He moved off her and gripped her shoulders, pulling her up with him, until they were both sitting beside the blanket. He held her close, burying her face against his neck. "I'm so sorry."

"Please, let me go." She struggled to get out of his arms but he clung tighter. "This is exactly why I didn't say anything, why I don't talk about it anymore. I don't want your pity or anyone else's."

"Sweetheart, it's not pity." He ran one hand through her hair, tipping her face toward his. "It's understanding."

"There is nothing to understand, Dom. My parents' death isn't the cause of my sleep problems. That was my first thought, too, when I realized things were escalating instead of getting better. If it had been that obvious, I would have dealt with it. I spent enough time in therapy that first year to learn about self-assessment and coping strategies."

"What happened to them?" he prodded, unwilling to accept her interpretation.

Ariadne's eyes slipped closed. She'd been dreading the question. "I'd already left for boarding school in Lyon. They were in New York. It was...ah...sudden and unexpected but the outcome would have been the same, even if I hadn't been out of the country. I would have been in school, safe when…when…they died." It was the upper layer of truth and all she could manage at the time.

He watched her carefully as she chose each word with precision. Ari was leaving out some important detail. Cobb was unsure if it was deliberate or not.

"Well that explains why you keep people at a distance. A loss like that, especially a sudden one at a young age..." He shook his head and caressed her cheek. "If someone can't get close, then he or she can't hurt you. I'm trying to teach James and Phillipa to trust again so they won't end up with that problem. They know I love them. Now they just need time to relearn what they used to know, that I'll always be there for them."

"They're lucky to have you," her voice was husky from tears. "I was wrong about this morning. I wasn't thinking straight or I would have realized what you were doing."

"Someone should have done it for you."

"There was really only my grandmother, and she had all she could do to keep herself afloat emotionally. Losing daddy almost killed her, as it was she only outlived her son by about six months. I was better off staying where I was, therapy three times a week, demanding classes and new surroundings. I was somewhere that I had never been with them. It helped…no old memories to fight…no trying to live in the past."

Cobb was filled with certainty that her honest approach to memories of her parents had made her the perfect person to see what he'd been doing, and to help him when he stumbled on his was back into the real world.

"Ariadne, you aren't alone anymore." He felt her muscles tighten against his and he refused to let her look away. "You said earlier that it was hard for you to get in bed with me each night. If it's because you're afraid of letting me in, I'll remind you that we've already covered that." Just as she'd challenged him on his weaknesses he would do the same for her.

"I realize that," her voice cracked and she pressed her fingertips against her lips. "That's why it's so difficult for me. I'm afraid because you got in somehow and I'm left defenseless." Ari turned her face against Dom's and caressed his cheek with hers. "I never realized sleeping beside a person was such an intimate thing, almost like making lov-" she whispered as she covered his mouth with hers.

Ariadne gasped as he took control. What had started out as a gentle kiss on her part became much more. She felt like she was being pulled under by the waves in limbo, with only Dom Cobb to hold onto and keep her from drowning. But this time they were both caught in the current and she didn't care. She was surrounded by his scent and feel, all of him. He made her forget caution, common sense, and what still lay before them.

His lips parted as he pulled her hard against him. A deep moan filled the air, his…hers…both of them…Cobb was past caring. He tangled his hand in her hair, cupping the back of her head, and tipping her face so his tongue could dive deeper, learning the recesses of her warm wet mouth. She tasted of ginger tea and honey and Dom didn't think he'd ever be able to drink his fill. His hand slid under her jacket and tank, along the smooth, familiar skin of her back.

She sighed his name, wanting more, wanting his touch everywhere but unsure how to ask for it. When his fingers moved over her stomach and up, delving into her bra and pulling her left breast free, her body responded and asking was forgotten. Ari's tongue danced with his. Her hips rocked to the beat of the blood pounding in her ears. When his thumbnail grazed her nipple, a shock went through her that caused every muscle to tighten with need.

"Ohhhh," she cried out and pushed her breast tighter into his palm. Her fingers dug into his back and tugged at his shirt needing to feel his skin.

"Jesus, Ariadne." He took gasping breaths and would have pulled his hand out from under her shirt if she hadn't quickly gripped his wrist and held it tightly in place.

"Don't stop," she huffed. Her mouth trailed over his until she found his bottom lip and sucked gently until she was rewarded by his grip tightening on her breast.

"I have to." Dom wrapped one arm around her shoulders and rolled them to the blanket. "You like it when I do this, Tiger?" His eyes shot blue fire as he watched her body quiver when he stroked her nipple one last time.

All she could do was nod in response.

"You shouldn't let me know that, at least not yet." It took all his willpower to keep from pulling up her tank and watching as he touched her again. Instead he kissed her temple and slid her bra back into place, never once getting to see the warm flesh his hand had explored.

"Why did you stop?" Ariadne glared at him. Every inch of her skin prickled with the need to touch or be touched by him. He appeared calm and collected as he rolled away from her to dig for something buried at the bottom of their picnic basket.

"Here, drink this." He helped her sit up and handed her the small cup that was the top of the Thermos, which held their coffee. "But you've got to share. That's all we've got."

"Dom?" She looked at him with pleading eyes, ignoring the offered drink. That's when she noticed that his hand shook slightly and the muscles around his mouth were tight and grim. "I'm sorry, the question wasn't fair and neither was the kiss. I didn't mean…things just got out of hand." She took the coffee and inhaled its delicious fragrance to hide her confusion.

"Or maybe _in hand_ would be a better way of saying it." He could still feel the imprint of her breast warm against his palm.

"Don't make jokes." Her emotions were swinging in all directions, the tight grip she had on her coffee was all that kept her from flying apart.

"Ariadne, you're safe. I won't take advantage again. Tonight will be just like any other night." It was a promise he was making to both of them.

"I know you'd never deliberately hurt me." She scooted closer and handed him the cup to prove to herself that she could let go of it and not shatter.

"Yeah, but the accidents can be a bitch. You test my restraint badly. I was hardly gentle…" He nodded toward the edge of the blanket where they'd been locked in a frantic embrace moments earlier. In an effort to calm his jangled nerves he sipped the coffee, trying not to remember how the simple touch of her lips on his had caused him to blow though his self-imposed limits. "You're a tiny thing, small boned and slim."

"I'm not talking about the physical." She smiled sadly.

"Damnit, I am." He glared, his eyes sparking. "Your experience is…limited. I could lose control…I did lose control. You deserve better."

"You can say it." She started defensively but gave up. "I've never let anyone get that close before. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters." He brushed her hair behind her ear, needing to know that he could touch her and pull back.

"No, Dom it doesn't. I've wanted you since we first met but wanting isn't enough. If it were, we would have finished this back in the warehouse, two days ago. I would have seen to it." She looked at him with sad eyes, knowing she was asking for more than he could give. The pain he caused her couldn't be prevented, because his emotions were still tied to the past. "What has me so frightened is that you're inside my defenses. Months ago I recognized a kindred soul and the better I got to know you, the more I cared. There was no keeping that out and it isn't your fault."

"You talk as if I don't care." He held out the cup for her to drink the last of the coffee. "How can you doubt how much you mean to me?"

"You can't possibly know what you feel. You've hardly come to terms with your wife's death." It was the shield she'd hidden behind for months, the thing that had kept her from hopping a plane to LA and demanding entrance into his life.

"Ariadne your lack of experience is showing. I'm a guy and my sex is known for putting desire before emotions." He smiled gently. "If I didn't care, I would have had you bent over a worktable, up against a wall, or even in one of those uncomfortable lounge chairs on any number of our late nights alone in the warehouse last fall. I wanted you then and it wasn't the specter of Mal that stopped me. I'm the first one to admit that seven months ago I was confused as hell, but I had enough presence of mind to realize that you were too important to me to simply use like that."

"You needed me so you could complete the inception and get back to your children."

"Yeah, that's what I kept telling myself and anyone who questioned me about you." He squinted at her, carefully searching and sifting through his memories for the truth. "Ask yourself this, on that night when you showed me your totem, what would you have done if I'd kissed like I did a few minutes ago? Would you have walked out and never come back, or would there have been a very different ending?" It had been a close thing that night. He'd chosen to hide in anger when she had asked him why he couldn't go home.

"You've got me all figured out, don't you?" she challenged.

"I hope so." He cupped her face with both hands, not letting her look away. "I think that, like my children, you need to trust again. But for you it's a little different. You need to relearn that caring about someone, loving someone, doesn't automatically mean that person is going to leave you."

"I trust you," she gasped. Had she heard him correctly, more importantly had she understood him correctly?

"You think you do and that's a start." He turned away and began packing up the remains of their picnic.

"This whole afternoon was an act? You were digging for information?" Realization dawned and it hurt.

"The argument part, yeah. I needed you angry enough that you'd open up."

"Why didn't you simply ask?"

"Would you have told me if I had?" He reached for her hand and held it lightly between both of his.

"I… I like to believe I would have but...no, I don't think so." Her fingers twitched against his skin.

"That's what I thought." He turned her hand over and traced the fine slim bones of her wrist with his thumb. "That's why I did it, but I'll be damned if I'll apologize when it caused you to kiss me like that."

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "We both know who had control of that." Ariadne's fingers curled between his.

"I may have taken control but you started it." His eyes glittered at the memory and he slid his hands slowly up her neck into her hair, while stepping closer. "It's something for you to keep in mind."

"I...I'm sorry," she whispered, trapped by his gaze, his touch and his scent. "But you make me feel things..." Ariadne's words trembled as she leaned against him, his breathe warm on her face. "You do the strangest things to me."

"And I plan to do many, many more for a very long time." He felt a shudder run through her body as she realized what he was saying.

"You don't play fair," she accused when he wrapped his arms around her.

"I never said I did, Tiger." His breathing was as ragged as hers. "But with you I'll try, at least until we get your sleep problems figured out. You already know what happens then."

"This isn't a good idea." She pushed against his chest, knowing it was wiser to put some distance between them.

"Shhhh. It's an excellent idea. Think of it as practice for tonight." His hot caramel voice ran over her skin and she gave up any pretense of wanting to be set free. "Just hold on tight. The adrenalin storm will pass soon enough."

They stood under the large beech tree, arms wrapped around each other and bodies pressed close, while time and the spring breeze cooled their blood and made need less immediate.

**TBC**


	14. Ch 13: The Undiscovered Country Pt VI

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Rating: **PG13

**Beta: **Thanks to Vashti. Any errors that are still here are mine.

**Notes: **Sorry this took so long. I had hand surgery on 12/20 and the recovery time took longer than when I had the other hand done. It's still giving me problems but I will attempt to get the last chapter finished as soon as I can.

**Enjoy!**

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_**Ch. 13 – An Undiscovered Country – Part VI**_

_**By Lattelady**_

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That night Ariadne was surprised at how easy it was to rest her head on Dom's right arm while he wrapped his left one around her. He had been correct that afternoon. They'd needed to come down from the adrenalin high that had sizzled through their blood. Standing in that lovely spot, warm and safe against him, had taken the ragged edge off her desire and left her calm and relaxed almost to the point of exhaustion.

As Cobb curled around her in the big bed, she knew he was there with her to face whatever they found in their shared dream. _'Was that trust?_' she wondered. Before she had time to analyze it, she felt the sleep compound hit her system, wiping away random thoughts no matter how hard she clutched at them.

The Professor had reduced the time on the PASIV to one minute. That gave them twelve minutes on the first level, twenty-four on the second, forty-eight on the third and a little over an hour and a half on the never before explored forth level.

Dom and Ari worked quickly and efficiently, marking each level in their minds by the color of the window high on the wall next to their bed.

On the third level, below a large round red window, Ariadne laid her head on Cobb's chest. Their bodies pressed tightly together.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," her voice quavered slightly but her arm was steady as she reached behind her for the metal unit. "How about you?"

"Punch it." He'd hardly finished speaking when her hand moved and the compound rushed through their veins.

* * *

Ari blinked and shivered. Her hair was blowing in her face and across Dom's chest. They were falling. Wind rushed against them, its noise almost drowning out voices that started as whispers she could hardly hear but grew louder as they plunged downward. "Cobb," she cried out, clutching his shoulder and front, surprised to discover they were both wearing familiar white snow suites.

"I've got you." He held her tighter, relieved that this time down the rabbit hole she wasn't alone and they were able to breathe, unlike their first attempt at shared dreaming in Miles' study. "Is this what it was like when you fell off the porch of the Loire Valley cottage?"

"No, look at our clothes. It's the kick out of limbo, back to the hospital level. Have all those months been an illusion?" She was sure she'd been here and had done this before, except she'd been alone and able to block the voices that were becoming more and more insistent. "Are we still asleep on the airplane? Is this our limbo now, always falling and never landing?"

"No, I refuse to believe that." He thought of his children and the progress they'd made as a family in the last seven months. "James and Phillipa are in bed in the nursery at their grandparents' house in Paris," he declared through gritted teeth. "You brought us here, now we have to find out why."

"You're wrong. There's nothing here but pieces of unconstructed dreams shaped like chunks of ice. I didn't build this," she shook her head, trying to block the voices that were being dragged from her memory. "Why would I...? You weren't even there...Oh God, why won't they stop arguing?" she screamed, her words tumbling out fast and hard.

"Who's arguing? What do you hear?" He tried to get her attention but she kept shaking her head, fear etched on her face as she fought to shut out the event that had changed her life. For the last nine years, she'd kept it deeply buried; now it was battling its way into her conscious mind. As it roared to life all around her, Ari and Dom's feet hit the ground and the dark shadowy room slowly shifted. Lights came on and people appeared out of the mist.

"_No, no, I don't want you to." _An angry teenaged voice sliced through Ariadne's memory, bringing with it everything she'd forgotten in an attempt to deal with tragedy and death, and still remain sane.

"_But, honey, we'll have fun. We can bicycle through Provence or hike in the Pyrenees the week before your classes start. Then once you're settled in, a quick trip to Paris for some shopping." _A soft feminine voice that was always accompanied by the gentle scent of Joy perfume, tried to reason with a stubborn fourteen year-old.

"_No, it wasn't my idea to move into the City or be sent off to boarding school. You and daddy want me gone. Well, I'm going but I'm going alone. I'll never forgive you for taking me away from my friends. I hate you. I hate both of you!" _

Moments later Dom and Ariadne were standing in the middle of a bustling, brightly lit terminal. Nothing was left of the dark three-dimensional canvas Cobb had created for Ari to use as a foundation for her dream. They were dressed in the clothes they'd appeared in each night; Cobb a gray button down, navy slacks and dark shoes; Ariadne in black slim fitting pants, deep red, long sleeved tee and charcoal vest with flat heeled brown half-boots on her feet. People moved around them with determination and purpose, never giving them a second look.

Ari's jewel-colored shirt underscored her shocked, pasty complexion, as she fought to get out of Dom's arms.

"Ariadne, it's all right, we aren't falling anymore..." He pulled her tighter against him as he looked around trying to make sense of where they were.

"It doesn't matter," she gasped, shaking her head. "Nothing is all right."

"Look at me, Ariadne. We're still in a dream but it's your dream. The one we've been searching for?" He was worried. She was disoriented, losing her grip on reality. "Reach in your pocket for your bishop and it will help you orient yourself. You've built this room out of the empty one I devised and you've filled it with projections. The answers we've been looking for are here."

She held tightly to her totem, recognizing the unusual feel and weight. She knew she wasn't awake but wished she were because, if things unfolded as she was afraid they would, this was the moment that changed her life and there was no going back. "Don't you get it? This can't be what happened. I don't remember it like this but...but...it seems familiar…"

"It feels that way because you've reached the bottom. Down here, some place, is what you've kept hidden for so long. I think you've been subconsciously trying to get here. That's why you keep falling in your sleep. It's not a kick but a way to get back to this moment." He kept her trapped in his embrace, her back tight against his front. They were on the fourth level and it was unstable as hell. If she bolted, he was worried the dream would collapse. "Ari, I know this is difficult but we need to see it through."

"Dom, please make the voices stop." Her breathing hitched. She fought to wipe out the words that echoed all around her, '_hate you…hate you….hateeeyouuuu…'_ They pounded on the door to her locked memories, threatening to explode around her. "Make them stop, now." She didn't give a damn about his theories. She wanted out.

"Who, Sweetheart, whose voices?" Cobb covered her cold hands with his and tucked them against her body. He had her in a restraint hold to keep her calm, and to touch as much of her as he could in hopes of keeping her emotions in checked. The move was cold, and calculated, one worthy of Dom the Extractor. He discovered it brought him pain on a whole new level to force her to confront her hidden terrors. "Ariadne, talk to me. What do you hear that I can't?"

"Them," her voice shook. "The three people arguing at security." She motioned with her chin to a well-dressed couple in their early fifties and a petite young girl standing on the far side of the couple. "No, no, it didn't happen this way." Ari refused to accept what she was seeing and hearing. "I would have remembered this."

"Who are they?" he demanded, afraid he already knew the answer.

"My parents and me." She spoke in a monotone as if all emotion had been washed away. "This is wrong, I know it is. We didn't...I didn't...Oh God, no." Ariadne shook her head and held on tightly to Dom. "Please, don't make me remember this..."

"You've got to, Sweetheart. This is where the answers are." Cobb was sure that they'd finally hit the core of her problem.

"Don't you get it?" she yelled at him, fighting to break his hold. "It's already far too late. The damage is done and there is no changing it."

"Where are we?" he probed. "Tell me where we are and why it's too late."

"Kennedy Airport, Air France concourse. Now get me the hell out of here!" She struggled but it did her no good. He had her securely against his body.

Dom looked around. To his left there was a large advertisement for The Concorde... 'three and a half hours to Paris.' "Ari _when_ are we?" He knew it had been years since the supersonic jet had flown.

"It's the day I left for France, nine years ago. September 2nd, 2001, the day I killed my parents." She leaned against him in defeat. It was all coming back to her in a rush of mixed memories. She felt stretched thin and beaten. "Months earlier they had planned to come with me, make it a family vacation in Europe before school started, but I told them to stay away, that I never wanted to see them again and I never did," she whispered.

The pieces fell into place for Cobb. He wasn't sure how he'd missed it when they'd talked that afternoon. All the clues had been there. "Your parents worked in The World Trade Center?"

Ariadne nodded slowly. "Both of their offices were located there and our apartment."

"Sweetheart, that wasn't your fault." He kissed her neck glad she was snug against him as his heart broke for her. "My God, it was a terrorist attack."

Cobb's memories of that time were sketchy. He had been new to dream sharing and had been caught up in the beginnings of a wild affair with Mal. His realities had become the dreamworld and the passion they'd shared. Unlike the rest of the world, that had gasped and held its breath as news came out of New York City, the impact on his life had been that the military had stepped up their dream sharing war games as troops were readied for possible war. The extra time spent dreaming blunted the tragedy, making it seem as if it had happened in another lifetime. Looking back he supposed that, for him, it had. Nothing much except his children had been able to penetrate the dreamscape where he had existed. It had taken Mal's death to wake him up for good.

"Weren't you listening to what I said?" She hated to repeat her greatest sin to this man, of all people. "My parents wanted to come to Lyon with me, get me settled in and then take a trip through the south of France or the Pyrenees. If I hadn't told them to get the hell out of my life, they would have been out of the country, too. They. Would. Have. Been. Safe," she bit off each word as if explaining the concept to a very young child

"Ariadne, they were your parents. It was there job to make the decisions. They chose to stay in New York." He couldn't imagine any circumstances that would cause him to send either of his children away to school but if he did, he'd sure as hell go with them to be sure they were safe and happy.

"Cobb, you have no idea how angry and mean a fourteen year-old can be. I'd been making their lives a living hell all summer. They probably breathed a sigh of relief when I left them standing at security." She gritted her jaw to fight tears that were welling up. Ari didn't think she had any right to feel sorry for herself. She'd done everything in her power to drive them away. "Please, don't make me relive this. Don't make me watch them walk away from me, glad that I'm gone," she whispered, burying her face against his arm to keep her lips from trembling.

"You're looking at what happened through years of buried guilt." He pulled her closer to the three people. "Look at your mother. Does she look like she's happy to see you go?"

* * *

Lillian Bishop was a small slim woman in a well-cut grey suit and silk blouse. She looked every inch the Executive Vice President of a major brokerage firm that was her professional title but today she felt like nothing more than a worried mother, as she tried to reason with her daughter. "Ariadne, I know you weren't pleased about moving from Westchester into the City but it was time. Since we have the means to send you to any private school in the world, why not choose the best?" It took all her effort to keep from crying.

"The best for whom?" Ari from nine years earlier was dressed in low raise jeans and a tight orange top that ended just at the waist, showing off creamy white skin and a navel ring, when she moved her body. She had a short brown leather jacket over her arm and a backpack at her boot covered feet. "Certainly not me. It's not my fault you don't trust me. I wasn't even at that stupid party."

"No, dear, you weren't, but you would have been if you hadn't been out with that boy..."

"That boy, as you call him, is Ellie Peterson's older brother. I've known him all my life." Young Ari crossed her arms and glared at her mom. "Daddy plays golf with his dad, and you and his mom have been doubles partners for years. Where's the crime in what I did?"

"The crime, as you put it, is that Brian is eighteen and you had just turned fourteen. The only reason you weren't at that party, with all your other friends, is that you were out on the back of an adult's motorcycle. Don't try and shrug it off, young lady. The police found more than loud music, alcohol and pot that night. There was cocaine." Lily had been immensely relieved her daughter wasn't one of those dragged home by the police, but it made her blood run cold at the thought of Ariadne joy riding on a motorcycle with a young man four years her senior.

"Why do you think I didn't go? I'm not stupid and neither is Brian. I wish we could have talked Ellie into coming with us." She glared and rolled her eyes. Her expression a younger version of one Cobb was very familiar with. He held tightly to the adult Ariadne, frozen in place in his arms. "You're overreacting, Mother."

"Riding on the back of a motorcycle isn't a good way to show your intelligence. With those things it isn't a question of _if_ but _when_ you have an accident. I know you and Ellie have been practically joined at the hip since preschool, but you are growing up and changing and so is she. You need a new set of friends.

"Darling, you'll love it in Lyon. The school is known for it's innovative art programs." She reached over to slide her daughter's overlong bangs out of her eyes. "I'm going to have my secretary see if there are still tickets available. Daddy and I can visit this weekend. We can meet you in Paris for shopping on the ninth and spend some time in Lyon. I can reshuffle everything on my schedule except a meeting on the 13th."

"Don't touch me." The teen pulled away as if she'd been burned. "I don't want you there."

"That's enough young lady. The decision had been made." Curtis Bishop had had all he was going to take of his daughter's outburst. "You're upsetting your mother."

"What about the way the two of you are upsetting me? I should have some say-so in where I attend school. I was interested in their summer program, not boarding school." She spoke quickly and sharply, using her hands to emphasize her words. "Since you want me gone, I'm going. That way you won't have to worry about parties or boys or...or...or me. I'll be out of sight and out of mind."

"Ari, how can you say that? We'll always worry about you." Curtis smiled sadly. "It's part of being a parent. Not the easy part, I might add. Someday, when you have children of your own, you'll understand that. But until you can show some maturity in your decisions, Lily and I will make them for you. That way we're sure you'll live long enough to give us those grandchildren I was talking about."

"I thought it was pretty damn mature to avoid that party." Young Ari was furious.

"Curtis, Ari, stop it," Lillian Bishop interceded between father and daughter. "You two are too much alike to ever come to terms about anything, and I'm tired of playing referee." Tears filled the older woman's eyes, glinting brighter than the diamonds in her ears or the tennis bracelet on her left wrist. "Ariadne you are correct. Not going to that party was a good thing but what you chose to do instead is just as questionable."

"We are too much alike." Curtis looked sadly at his daughter reading the same determination in her eyes that he saw each morning in the mirror when he shaved. "But no matter how angry you are, you'll always be my baby girl. I love you," he had to clear his throat to continue talking. "We'll see you at Christmas, at Grandma's."

"We can't just leave her!" Lily turned to her husband, wondering for the first time if they had been too harsh with her.

"Yes, you can. Just go, both of you, just go." The teen knew that she was about to crack. She loved her parents, but was angry with them. That anger was intensified because she was as sad as they were about saying good-bye and hated that, in a small way, they were correct. Her friends were changing and she didn't want to hang out with them like she used to. The last weeks she'd been living a lie, and pride had made her continue.

"It's what she wants, Lil." Curtis put his arms around his wife. "Let's give her that much."

"Have a good semester, darling," Mrs. Bishop whispered, her throat clogged with tears. "If you need anything, anything at all, let me know. I love you, Ariadne." She tried to hug her child but felt Ari stiffen at her touch. Turning quickly, she moved away, crying.

Curtis stood for a moment caught between an angry child and a crying wife. There had to be some way he could make this better. Solving problems was what he did and it earned him an excellent living. Unfortunately, there wasn't a precedent in any law book that would help him here. All he could do was rely on his own judgment. "Love you, Brown-eyed Girl," he murmured and gave Ari's stiff fingers a squeeze before turning and hurrying after Lillian.

He didn't see Ariadne's eyes fill with tears that spilled down her cheeks. Neither parent heard her gasp their names as she turned and, with hands that shook, gave her belongings to the security guard to be processed.

* * *

"I'd forgotten it all." Ari leaned her head against Dom's shoulder, glad he was with her. "I don't understand why I didn't remember it, not the arguments, not the angry parting at the airport, not any of it. Especially not that they would have been with me, in France, instead of at work if I hadn't lied." A half laugh, half moan bubbled up. "Well, I guess we have the answer to why I'm a stickler for the truth. It's because I killed my parents with a lie." Her eyes filled with tears. She slumped against him, hardly able to move. "Please get me out of here. There is no more to see. The damage was done nine years ago and there is no changing it. I don't understand why it was so important that I remember this."

"Ari." He swung her around so she was facing him. "If you could talk to them one last time, what would you say to them?"

"I...I'd tell them I loved them and to get the hell out of New York."

"Sweetheart, you can't change the outcome for them but you can for you." Cobb began to tremble. It felt like it had months ago when he'd held his projection of Mal for the last time and told a lie to set them both free. But this time it would be Ari telling a truth. "Go to them, talk to them, and tell them all the things you've always wanted to say if you had that last moment in the airport to do over."

"They won't recognize me." She shook her head wanting desperately to have a chance to say good-bye, but terrified of facing her mom and dad one last time.

"Ariadne, they'll see you exactly as you were then. To them only a few minutes have passed," he urged. "Take a leap of faith, Sweetheart. It'll make all the difference in the world if you allow it."

"It worked for you with Mal?" She already knew the answer but needed to hear it one more time.

"Yes it did. I'll be right behind you, only a few feet away." He looked at the hands of his watch moving slowly in a circle and then at the projections of the man and woman walking up the concourse. "If you're going to do it, you'll have to do it now. We're running out if time."

Ariadne rose on her toes and quickly kissed Dom's cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, suddenly filled with energy and purpose.

"Mama, Daddy," she called out as she ran. She could almost hear the clip clop of her favorite high-heeled black boots, the ones her father had brought her from Spain a month before the disastrous party and motorcycle ride. As a fourteen year-old, she'd practically lived in them. She'd been wearing them that day at the airport.

"Ari Baby." The couple held out their arms and adult Ariadne flew into them but they only saw the child they'd left moments earlier.

"Oh, you smell just like my mom." Ari rubbed her nose against the collar of the older woman's raw silk suit coat.

"Of course I do, darling, I _am_ your mom. I've worn the same perfume since your father gave me that first bottle of Joy years ago." Both women laughed.

"I'm sorry I was so angry, I didn't mean it. I love you both so much." Tears ran down Ari's face. She'd wanted to tell them she'd cared and had missed them for nine years.

"Sweetie, your mother and I understand. You forget we were teenagers once ourselves." Bishop knew that to his daughter he was an old man but he didn't care. He was thrilled to have a truce in the war that had been going on in his family for the last four months.

"Darling, I'm going to miss you so much." Lillian held onto her daughter as the couple walked their child back to the security checkpoint.

"Mom, Dad, there is something I've got to tell you." She gripped her parents' hands tightly.

"Ariadne, no, they're only projections." Dom called from a few feet away, though neither Mr. nor Mrs. Bishop heard him. "You can't bring them back to life and it will only hurt you." He was sure she was going to try to warn them.

"I…I…" Ari faltered, knowing Cobb was correct. Her eyes filled with tears and she hugged both her parents one last time. "I love you and I'll miss you," she whispered. "I'll...ah...see you at Christmas..." Her voice broke on the lie. Her arms were around her mother and father and she didn't want to let go.

"Oh, Baby, we're going to miss you." Lily wept.

"Mom." Tears ran down Ari's face. It was time to finish what she had started. "I'm going to love Lyon and all of France. I'm sure of it. Daddy you are right about the school. It's going to change my life. I just know it. I'm not a real artist, but they will find a way to channel my talents so I can use them. Don't ever be sorry you made this decision for me."

"It sounds as if my Brown-Eyed girl may be growing up." He enveloped both his women in a hug as the overhead speaker announced Ari's flight. "That's your plane, Baby."

"Do me a favor." Her eyes darted back and forth from her mom's blue ones to her dad's dark hazel ones. "Give me a kiss, then leave and don't look back. I want to remember you happy, walking arm-in-arm like you always do. I'm gonna love Europe," she whispered as she kissed her parents and watched them do as she asked.

When the Bishops walked away, the room dimmed. People became shadows and faded into the dark mist.

* * *

"Cobb," Ariadne called out and gripped his hand.

"We're..." His word echoed. "Out..." The cottage in Loire Valley appeared and then shifted. "Of..." the red window became green and quickly changed to blue as they moved up the layers of the dream.

"Time..." Dom finished speaking as he blinked and his vision cleared. He was in bed in the room he'd been using at Miles and Sabine's house. His father-in-law was bending over them gently removing their IV's.

"What happened?" Miles gasped and jumped back in surprise.

Ari sputtered and gasped for breath as if she'd been under water too long. Her world shook around her and memories filled her conscious mind. "Was that real?" The words tore from her, filled with pain.

"I don't know, Sweetheart, but it is what you believe to have happened." Cobb spoke, as he and Ariadne automatically reached for their totems.

"Jesus...I...I..." She shook her head as she scrambled over Dom. She felt crowded in, unable to breathe. Her feet hit the floor and she turned to the men, unsure what to say.

"Shall I wake Sabine?" The Professor asked quietly, meaning to steady and reassure.

"No, please, I just need some time alone to figure it all out in my head...I need to understand and accept what happened." Ari held her hands out in front of her as if to block their way but only Cobb moved forward. He was a step behind her and gaining fast. "Dom, I need to do this myself. Please, I gave you the time you needed." She turned quickly and headed down the hall.

* * *

Soon after, Sabine Elkins moved quietly through the house. The light over the stove and the mudroom door slightly ajar, gave her a clue to where the missing girl was hiding. She backtracked into the dining room and made a quick stop at the liquor cabinet before heading into the backyard.

"How are you doing?" Sabine joined Ariadne on the steps to Mal's tree house.

"I don't know. It's hard to make sense of what happened."

"That is understandable. Here, drink this." She handed Ari a brandy snifter with a small amount of light amber liquid in it.

"You're giving me alcohol?"

"Not much, but there are times when it is called for. Just do not tell Miles. It is his special stock. Dominic brings him a bottle whenever he comes from California. We cannot get that particular brand here. It is a Pear Liqueur, rather unusual."

Ariadne took a sip and let the smooth, slightly sweet liquid slide over her tongue. "Cobb told you what happened?"

"Yes. He is very worried about you. The first thing he did was check your room. He was sure he would find you packing."

"I admit it crossed my mind, but I couldn't do that to him or you and Miles or…or me." She sipped her liqueur and watched a sliver of the moon high in the sky. "It would be running again and… and…since it appears I've been doing that for nine years, it is necessary to make some changes in my life."

"You are being a bit hard on yourself." Sabine moved carefully into therapist mode.

"Am I? I believe what Dom and I saw in that shared dream really happened." She blinked refusing to give in to emotions. "But up until tonight I have no memory of it. The summer before I left for school in Lyon has always been vague. I never remembered going to the airport or boarding the Concorde. Even that first week in France, there is almost nothing. What I don't understand is why it has taken so long to surface. I had intense therapy. The school brought in a team that specialized in trauma. There were three of us who lost people that day. A German girl lost her brother. He worked for an import-export company whose American headquarters was there. A senior, from Paris, lost her dad and me…well you know about my parents."

"It is possible that the memory would never have returned, if not for the project you worked on seven months ago." Sabine had spent years studying the psychology of shared dreaming. Much of her work, though classified, had been ground breaking. "You know that limbo is made up of unconstructed dream space. That is basically tiny pieces of things buried in an individual's subconscious."

"Arthur said that it was the unconstructed dreams of someone who had been there before. Cobb was the only one who had been there." Ari was struggling to understand what she was being told. "It doesn't make sense that a stray memory of mine would be there."

"That is the usual school of thought." Sabine agreed. "Dom told me that he took you down a number of layers, once when it was just the two of you. They weren't normal levels but arranged in an order that had importance to him rather than according to depth. Did you ever hear the rattle of a train while you were in that elevator with him?"

"Yes." Ari paled at the memory. "That train also had the power to come roaring out of limbo to any level it wanted." She remembered it hitting their car just after she'd joined Cobb on the first level.

"Very interesting, but I think the more important event was you passing through limbo. You don't have to stop and take a guided tour to leave fragments behind. In the sleeping mind, subconscious ideas move about and rearrange themselves. It is why we have no control over projections. My son-in-law has never shared the importance of that train with me, but I know it was a significant part of his limbo." The Frenchwoman studied the problem from all angles. "I believe you stumbled on that lost memory while falling during the kick seven months ago and it has been trying to get out ever since."

"What do I do now?"

"A lot of that is up to you. Have you ever been back to New York since it happened?" she probed gently.

"No, there was no reason. At first, only military planes were allowed in American airspace... I couldn't have returned even if I had wanted to…I flew to Florida when my grandmother died six months later but other than that and going to LA for the job I did with Dom, those are the only times I've been back to the US."

"How have you survived all this time on your own?"

"Between my parents' estate and my grandmother's..."

"Ari, I was not asking about money but about you the person."

"Lots of therapy, though it appears they missed an important detail. Though I can hardly blame them if I didn't remember myself." She sighed softly and looked back on those days and weeks after she'd gotten the news. "I think what really saved me was that I fell in love with architecture and Europe."

Sabine smiled as Ari spoke. It was easy to see that the girl had fallen in love again. This time it was with Dominic. He was much better for her than countries or even the most beautiful art in the world, and she would be good for him.

"Pardon, Ariadne, would you repeat that last bit. It is late and my English isn't translating as I would like." She'd lived with Miles too long not to think in English. It was a small lie to cover her romantic thoughts.

Ari switched quickly into her almost perfect French. "I fell in love with architecture and Europe. I went on that bicycle trip through the South of France with a group from school. On another vacation, I hiked through the Pyrenees with a different group. Everywhere I went I carried my sketchbook. It was as if I came alive here. I wish...I wish my parents could have known."

Sabine's eyes filled with tears. She was an older woman who had lost her daughter and Ariadne was a young woman who had lost both of her parents. The therapist in her knew that the dark haired girl beside her wasn't Mal and never could be but maybe, just maybe, they could help fill the dark emptiness each felt. "Ari," she gently stroked thick hair behind the girl's ear. "I am not sure if this will help you or not but I can say unequivocally that the moment your mother and father realized what was happening they were thankful that you were safe and far, far away."

Ariadne turned as she realized the depth of what she'd been told. "You would have traded places with Mal as she went off the ledge, if you could have."

"In a heartbeat. But like you the option was not given to me and, like you, I could not warn her or prevent what happened. My daughter excelled at hiding her depression; she knew she would be banned from shared dreaming and dreams had become as important to her as breathing.

"I could have saved my parents. If I hadn't been such a spoiled brat, they would have been with me, safe and far, far away," Ariadne argued.

"Would they?" Sabine dug deeper. "From what you and Dominic have told me your parents had demanding careers that they both enjoyed. Would they have been able to stay in Europe once your classes began?"

"I don't know." Ari slumped against the old woman. "I wish I'd been given the opportunity to find out."

"You need some sleep, my dear, and time to see if the bit of magic you and my son-in-law worked in that dream session will make things easier for you."

"He told you about that?" The young woman wondered how much more he'd told her.

"Yes and you need not look guilty. He told me that you gave him the same opportunity, months ago. I think it saved his sanity, for which I am grateful. Now, go on up. I'll see to the stemware." Sabine picked up the snifters and the two women headed for the house.

* * *

Dom was sprawled out on Ariadne's bed when she opened the door. The light woke him immediately.

"You can't sleep here," she whispered, sitting and facing him on the bed.

"I know. I wanted to be sure you were all right." He sat up, as close to her as he dared. He needed to ask her about something that was none of his business and wasn't sure how to begin.

"I finally understand so many of my actions over the last nine years. That has to mean something."

"It does, but you're still in free fall. I can see it in your eyes." He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips, knowing she was still searching for answers to her missing memories.

"How long until I hit bottom?" Ari's eyes slipped closed at his touch.

"I don't know. It took me awhile but Mal's ghost had been haunting me for a long time."

"That feels nice." She ran her nails through the scruff along his jaw, smiling at the sensations it created.

"Ariadne, look at me." He tumbled them to the bed, his body half over hers. "I need to know if he hurt you." It was what had been bothering him, what had driven him to camp out on her bed. He needed to know she was all right in every sense of the word. The issues with her parents were big ones and would take time but that was Sabine's field not his.

"He who?" She blinked in surprise at his grim expression.

"That kid, Motorcycle boy." Dom's rough voice became gentle as he ran his fingers up her arm and skimmed her neck. "Was he careful with you? You were only a kid. He shouldn't have touched you at all."

"He didn't...we didn't...I did not have sex..." Her temper was about to slip its leash when she realized his face was filled with concern for her. "He didn't touch me unless you count helping me fasten the helmet." Ari cupped his jaw and let him read the honesty of her answer in her eyes.

"I had to be sure he didn't hurt you, Sweetheart." He slid his arm under her neck and ran his hand through her hair. She was a tiny thing and the thought of some ham fisted, walking hormone of a kid, taking advantage of her had eaten away at Cobb from the moment he'd heard about it.

"Dom, is that what my parents thought?" She pulled his hand out of her hair and sat up in his embrace. "Do you think that's why they sent me across the Atlantic to school?"

"I only saw your projections of your parents but they seemed like the type who would have asked you straight out if they had any doubts." He sat up behind her and pulled her close, leaning his cheek on the top of her head. "If it was Phillipa, I'd sure as hell find out."

"You're right, they would have asked," she sighed and melted against him. "Do you ever remember the good times with Mal and not worry about the bad or the what ifs?" It would be easy to curl up beside him and doze off, but she knew she had to be able to sleep on her own before she would be healed enough to deserve this man who had fought his own past and won.

"Yes." He ached to slip them between the sheets of her bed and sink gently into Ariadne, but he knew it was too soon. "After she killed herself it was only when I looked at James and Phillipa, but after I returned from the inception it became easier. Now when I remember the time Mal and I were trapped in limbo, I think of us growing older. It's as if my marriage to her happened in another life. My personal inception worked for me. It worked so well that I'm selling the house in California." Dom felt Ari stiffen in his arms and pull away. "Arthur is packing up the children's things and my clothes. There are a few family antiques that will be shipped to Sabine and Miles, but the rest is being sold."

"What are you going to do? Where will you live?" She couldn't imagine being anywhere but beside him, and here he was making plans and moving on before she was ready.

"I've got that job waiting for me on the island of Hera, about fifty miles off of Crete. My children and I will be there until the plans are finished and construction starts. I hope you'll be joining us. I've talked to Saito and you can telecommute until you find your footing." He spoke carefully, laying out his plan to hopefully bind her to him.

"What about after?" She turned until she was caught in the blue of his eyes. All she could think about was that if one had to be lost, there was no better place.

"I've some ideas but they can wait for later." He pulled them both to their feet beside the bed. "You're exhausted, you need sleep." Dom kissed her gently on the forehead and headed toward the door.

"What…wait?" She swayed slightly. Her hand reached for where he'd been moments earlier. Her expression was filled with doubt. Did he want her as a partner in business or a personal one? If he only wanted her for business reasons and because they both knew there was chemistry between them, was she willing to gamble with her heart?

"You still don't get it do you." Dom's brow rose unable to believe she didn't understand what was between them. In two swift strides he was beside her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she moaned and her knees turned to liquid. "I guess under the circumstances I can forgive your confusion. You've been through a lot in the last seven months." He helped her into bed and walked quickly out of the room while he still had the willpower to leave.

* * *

Later, when Dom and Ariadne were asleep in their respective rooms, Miles entered the master suite carrying the metal PASIV case.

"I know how much you hated shared dreaming, my dear, but how about we give it a go, see if we can't make our lives a bit easier." He smiled at his wife and laid the machine on the bed between them.

Moments later Miles and Sabine were dreaming in their large bed, but in their minds they were in their sun filled backyard. Every rosebush was in full bloom, marking the time as late summer. Their arms were around a laughing projection of Mal, as they told her how much they loved her and how proud they were of her. The young woman held onto her parents tightly. Once they set her free, the grieving could end. She would live in the shadow world where she was happiest and her family could get on with their lives. They could live and love others as it was meant to be.

The truth Mal had always known had finally come to light. She was too fragile for reality. She was a being meant to live in a world of her own making. Now they understood it too.

**TBC**


End file.
